Chapter Text

Of all of the things that Taehyung had thought that he would regret hearing he had not thought that it would be this. Logically he should have been scared by a lot more other words, the typical ones and the more obscure. Something along the lines of “you have cancer” was one, “don’t scream and I won’t you hurt you” was another. A rather strong fear of his, and he supposed that it was for a great many others, was hearing the words “we tried our best to save him but sadly, your father is dead, Mr. Kim”.

But “you’re up”? Why, it was just two simple words and yet he felt the unmistakable sensation of dread course through him.

It had been quite some time since he had felt the sensation, likely around the time that he had taken his force entrance exam. Taehyung could recall sitting at the desk, fresh out of high school with a pen in hand and a series of sheets in front of him; sheets that would determine him being allowed into the force or not. For some older teens that had been his age, it had been college entrance exams they had been sitting; filled with dread. But for him it had been the force entrance exam, because a failure to pass would have ruined his future aspirations. That was why he had been so scared back then.

Right now his stomach felt the exact same too. It was in the way that his stomach clenched hard, as if seized hold of tightly by a fist. Working in sync with his stomach his throat and also seemed to have restricted to the width of a straw. Taehyung’s skin had been rather warm from the heating inside the department office floor and yet it was now decidedly chill. Was he going to break out into a sweat? He wasn’t sure but he felt just like he might. A cold clammy sweat that could only be described as terror sweat.

Yet Namjoon was looking at him like nothing of great importance had just happened. Why, he might as well have asked if he would log into the database and change an entry for him, judging from the rather calm look on his face. Taehyung studied the files in the crook of his elbow as he shifted to sit against his desk. Namjoon didn’t pull up a chair and act professional. He just leaned back to sit on his desk, the edges digging into the backs of his thighs and the seat of his black trousers brushing against the wood. He placed the files down beside his laptop and then he just folded his arms over his chest and looked down at him.

Taehyung rapidly figured out why he had picked to sit on his desk rather than on the other side. The position allowed him to look powerful, in control. He had to look up at him and thus it made him look like he was below him. Right now he felt like he was, felt like he was on his knees rather than seated at his desk. It was the effect of his shadow falling over his laptop and his gaze burning down at him.

God, he felt like an ant in front of him right now. A teeny tiny insignificant ant in the shadow of a massive boot heel just waiting to be stomped on.

“I’m sorry?” Taehyung asked him, lifting his eyebrows at him in a gesture he hoped looked confused and not condescending. The last thing he wanted to do was look disrespectful towards him. Even if he wasn’t technically his superior he couldn’t piss him off. Not now, after everything.

“I told you,” Namjoon said without even blinking. “You’re up.”

Taehyung studied his face for a moment and then glanced at his laptop. He had been sorting through a series of intercepted emails in the hopes that he would find an error in any of them. That someone would fuck up and use a word strong enough for them to have reason to get an arrest warrant. A word that wasn’t coverage for something else. Something like “skin” or “goodies” or any other fucking word lifted from a dictionary. Why not just be honest and say “meth” or “prostitution ring” or plain old cold blooded “murder”? Why did they have to be so goddamn tricky and make his job harder? Yet here he was after five hours of constant scanning and nothing.

Taehyung couldn’t possibly get an arrest warrant without physical proof. If he had intercepted emails then he needed to have enough solid information to result in a successful prosecution. No, an email made up of random shit that could mean anything certainly wouldn’t withstand a trial. But how could their team arrest anyone when there was never any evidence? Sometimes Taehyung felt like he was hitting his head against his screen over and over. It would likely yield better results for their team than their current method.

“Taehyung?”

“Yuh-yeah, boss?”

“How many times have I told you to not call me boss?” Namjoon said. It was easy for him to say that, as if it was just a simple drop in formalities and nothing more. The fact that he could pluck him right out of his office job and decide to dump him into the centre of a massive sting operation showed that he was clearly something a little more than a coworker. He wasn’t entirely certain that dropping the title would change a thing. “What is it? Talk to me, you look a little…” Taehyung dragged his eyes away from his laptop screen to look at him again. He saw slightly furrowed brows, not a sign of anger but possibly one of displeasure. “Taken aback by that news.”

“With all due respect, uh, Namjoon, I’ve been working this department here for less than a year,” Taehyung explained, as if he wasn’t aware of this fact. “I’m hardly the most knowledgeable of all of our team so I don’t-”

“Who told you you weren’t the most knowledgeable?” he asked, cleverly derailing the point that he was trying to make. Taehyung just mumbled something under his breath as he stared at his desk. Not too far from Namjoon’s files was his coffee mug, the dregs now likely freezing cold and as thick and dark as tar. There was a small lunchbox from a café just down the street open in front of him but he had lost his appetite suddenly. In the light from the window the remainders of the rice looked gelatinous and the kimchi looked sloppy and wet, like vomit.

The currently empty department room fell silent save for the sound of the clock and he hated it. He wished that someone else was in the room too, Sungah or even Hoseok. That would make the atmosphere less heavy and suffocating for sure, and right now Taehyung felt like breathing was a difficult task. Namjoon took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. Taehyung just gnawed on his lower lip rather than say another word.

Namjoon was his superior right now but only in experience. Namjoon was his boss because he had had the best experience to take charge of their rather select small team. He wasn’t much higher in rank or even greatly higher in age. But his father was a Chief Inspector and Taehyung knew what that meant. It meant that Namjoon was already well above his station in terms of respect and influence. If he told him that he had to do something, Taehyung had to do it. He could vocalise his want to not, could even request a referral but it would never get out of this department. Right now Taehyung had to stay on Namjoon’s good side even if he didn’t want to do this.

“We’ve been working together for how long, Taehyung?”

“Seven months,” he replied without looking up at him, eyes focused on the slight chip in the rim of his coffee mug instead.

“Seven months…”

Yes, it had been roughly seven months since he had been taken from his usual desk job, sorting out database records and typical violations to be placed in the narcotics and illegal substances department. Taehyung himself still wasn’t entirely sure how he had gone from rather low level enforcement to the current high level he was at. This was more than updating databases and keeping files in order. Taehyung had more or less overhauled the entire system that they had had before he had been put in place. Too many paper files full of useless shit, not enough instant and accessible material on hand. Maybe that was why Namjoon had plucked him out of the team, but there was one major problem.

Taehyung had no practical experience in the field. He had partaken in small street and car patrols when he had been a rookie. Two years down the line he was no longer considered one, but Taehyung still felt like a rookie. The kind of officer that had never made an arrest was the kind that did not get sent into the largest gang in the country as an undercover spy.

“Seven months,” Namjoon repeated as he shifted on the desk slightly. Taehyung lifted his gaze to see that he was looking across the department; across the rather small office floor. It reminded Taehyung of a classroom somewhat, the long rectangle shape and the several tables inside, the cork boards here and there covered in pinned up photographs and sheets of text. It felt like they should really have a larger department but apparently that was unnecessary. “In that time I’ve seen you go from making simple database entries to making links between data accounts that have led to convictions.”

“Only once or twice I didn’t-”

“Thirteen convictions and five pending trial,” Namjoon interrupted. “That’s more than once or twice. How would we have ever arrested Crazy Choi if you hadn’t connected that single call he made to Do Hyungwon? Huh? Not me. I didn’t even imagine that Choi would be stupid enough to agree to meeting someone by call, yet you remembered. You remembered the location and that got a confession from Do.”

“Hmm…” Taehyung made a noise as he nibbled on his lower lip.

“Crazy Choi was the most prolific arrest this department has made in ten years Taehyung. All ‘cos of you.” Namjoon touched his shoulder briefly at this, as if to drive the point home. “That’s something. We’ll go back to this later but let me explain. We’ve got reason to believe that you might just be the guy we need for this Taehyung.” He shifted to reach over and lift one of the files off the desk. Namjoon opened it up and glanced at something inside, eyes running over something that could have been a photograph or a sheet of paper. Taehyung just stared at him and tried to not wriggle in his seat in discomfort. “You know The Boy, right?”

Namjoon was asking a pointless question and they both knew this. Of course Taehyung knew The Boy, he had been tracking and compiling cross-references of the gang for months now. Taehyung knew names and faces, ages and occupations. He practically knew their designer suit of choice from the amount of time he spent looking at photographs and recordings of the near hundred men that belonged to the empire. So when Namjoon asked him if he knew The Boy he knew that he did.

“What about him?”

“Been seen a lot recently, I’m talking daily. Hoseok got quite a few choice shots of him.” Namjoon must have been looking at one such shot. “You know how rare it is to see him. So what does that mean?”

Taehyung also knew that Namjoon was aware of the fact that he knew this too. It was pretty obvious how he had gone from an invisible force to suddenly being seen everywhere. His time to step on the chessboard was approaching; there was a new player in the game. He didn’t say any of this of course, because he didn’t need to. His silence was all that Namjoon needed to hear. After a few seconds Namjoon looked up at him, lifting an eyebrow as he did. The movement was languid and yet authoritative and so Taehyung lifted a hand and held it up to him. Asking for the file. The other man handed it to him and so he turned it around and checked the photograph.

As expected Hoseok had once again proven his skills at being in the right place at the right time. That not only applied to his delivery of arrest warrants, or his perfectly timed raids that always snared a few rats in their nets. Hoseok also had the greatest lucky streak that Taehyung had ever seen. He knew that his coworker had enrolled in military duties right after high school, and from there he had used the experience in being placed in the department. If Taehyung was the mastermind behind the computer screen then Hoseok was the mastermind of working on the streets. And it was that lucky streak of his that had resulted in these shots.

The photograph in front of him had been taken from either a sidewalk or inside a building, perhaps a café. Though there were multiple bodies it was clear where the focus was supposed to be. It was supposed to be on the young man stepping right out of the suit store to cross the sidewalk and enter the Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousine. Black suit, fitted and designer. Didn’t need to be an expert to see that. Taehyung had no doubt that the waistcoat alone likely cost his monthly pay packet and his wages weren’t exactly low. In the shot The Boy was reaching up to undo a jacket button, the one right in the centre. His attention was elsewhere, looking at a man to his left rather than in the direction of the car.

Taehyung flicked to the second and sure enough there was a closer shot. This time his face was more than a profile. His black hair was swept back off his brow neatly to reveal a rather conflicting visage. Looking at his face Taehyung saw neither a boy nor a man but something trapped between. Eighteen he might have been, but he had yet to lose the lingering vestiges of his teenage years. His features seemed too large to be called mature from his large eyes (deer eyes Taehyung thought for some reason before pushing the thought away) to his prominent nose, to that tight little pout of a mouth of his. Despite his features being masculine, his strong eyebrows and nose, his height and frame, Taehyung couldn’t shake his initial feeling upon studying him.

He was an adult child. He was trapped between two worlds. The young man on the photograph had a spoilt look on his face - it was in his mouth, that pout. Yet the way he held his shoulders showed that he was also authoritative.

The third and final shot was so crisp and clear that he could see the most minute details on his face. The rather deep scar on his left cheek that wasn’t noticeable in the further shots was now unmissable. Taehyung could practically count his eyelashes, soft pretty little curls of black. He was glancing down the street, brow lightly furrowed as he squinted from the strong sunlight.

“Sungah’s gonna be pissed Hoseok beat her to these,” Taehyung joked as he looked up at Namjoon. “These are fantastic shots. Probably the best ones we’ve got of him.”

“Best ones the department’s gotten since he was about…eleven,” Namjoon agreed with a nod as Taehyung looked back at the photograph.

Yes, the young man on the photograph was the same even when he looked so very different. Gone was the short height and sloping small shoulders, the youthful innocence. No more long hair and teeth in need of braces. He had grown up from the database photographs that they had of him. Taehyung knew that he would look very different from his middle school photographs too. He had certainly grown up well, and so had he.

“Looks nothing like that dried up fucker,” Taehyung remarked as he looked at the shot. “Mrs. Jeon must be a looker and a half.”

“Don’t have a fucking clue, I’ve never seen her. Jeon keeps them sheltered remembered.” Namjoon reached down to pull the file from his hands. Taehyung spared a quick final glance at the photograph before it was out of sight once more. “But not anymore. No, Jeon Jungkook is finally hitting the streets like the heir that he is.”

“And we got the best shot of him possible. Goddamn, Hoseok won’t shut up about this for months.”

“We think that he’s getting groomed to take over, and that means right now we’ve got a way in. Times are gonna be turbulent for them with power and influence shifting everywhere,” Namjoon explained as he placed the file down and folded his arms over his chest. “That’s where you come in.”

“Is it?”

“Yes, it is,” the other man agreed with a vigorous nod. “See, we’ve got reason to believe that they’re going to start…investing in some new meat. There’s going to be a purge, that much we know. Like with all power shifts, the old’s going to make way for the new.” Namjoon paused for a moment as if collecting his thoughts. “We got a tip off an informant. They’re bringing in boys, not old men, not middle-aged men. We’re talking young blood. You need to bring in a new generation for an empire to last.”

“OK, so why me? Why not this informant? Why can’t they do it?”

“Two simple reasons. One,” Namjoon held a hand up and a single finger, “they’re too old and they have tender connections right now. We need them to stay exactly where they are, rather than go deeper.” He lifted his second finger, making the peace sign at him. “Two, they’re our ticket into the gang. That’s why we need you Taehyung. We need someone that can’t possibly be linked back to the department.”

“But you’re smarter, y’know what to do if-”

“Shit Taehyung I might be smart but so are you, your aptitude tests were off the chart. I know because I checked the records. Yes I’m smart, that’s why I need to stay back here, in the base camp. You have think of this situation in a certain way. Don’t use your ace card when you can pull a joker.” Namjoon reached over and tapped him on the side of his head. “You’re smart. Very smart. You’re also a damn good bluffer.”

“Bluffing about kiddie shit is easy Namjoon,” Taehyung retorted, an almost whine in his voice as did, “that’s not kiddie shit. If I say the wrong thing I can lose my head, and I like my head. It’s a nice head if I can brag about it.”

“I’m in too deep Taehyung. This department has affected me, I can’t go undercover. I’d blow the operation up. Sungah can’t, she’s female so she can’t even attempt to join. Hoseok can’t. He’s just like me, he’s like a soldier, not a spy. He does his job great, but he’s not right for this one. Daesu’s too old, Youngjae couldn’t look anymore like a fucking cop if he tried.”

Taehyung realised that he had named all of the team already except for him. They were only a small group of officers, for the only time they needed numbers was during raids. That was when the armed units stepped in, following Hoseok’s guidance. Other than that there were just six officers on the current squad and it would be pitiful if not reflective of the rather low level of drug activity in the region. There were more convictions for buyers of drugs than for sellers, and certainly not producers. No, most of the drugs floating around were imported shit from North Korea, China, The Philippines and more.

When it was so hard to find dealers and producers it wasn’t like there was a demand for officers in the field.

“Taehyung, this is the best shot we will get at infiltrating Haedogje Pa. It’s been an entire generation, we’ve been waiting forever.”

“I know, I know,” Taehyung muttered. “I know it’s the best but…me?” Namjoon held his gaze without blinking, refusing to back down. “I don’t even have any practical experience. What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

“You will undergo some training Taehyung,” he explained, shifting on the table as he did. “How to work a firearm mostly, but other stuff too. You’re not going into it naked. You’ll be prepared. We’ve got nearly three months to prepare ourselves for this. By the time we get you inside you will know every single thing about the fucking Haedogje Pa you will ever need to know.”

“I already know all about ‘em,” Taehyung said, edging close to an argumentative retort. “I know everything that I need to know. I don’t need to know anymore.”

“Not everything, not yet,” Namjoon said as he shifted to get off his desk. “The only way to know everything about Haedogje Pa,” he said as he placed a hand on his shoulder, “is to join Haedogje Pa.”

Taehyung didn’t follow him with his eyes as he left the department office. He was too busy staring at the files left on his desk to do so. They were just sitting there, so very much like Pandora’s Box waiting for him to open them and look inside. Namjoon just knew that he couldn’t ignore them, because he would just have to check the files to see the information. To see if it was correct and that there wasn’t the slightest piece of error. That was why he had left the files there, to tempt him. Taehyung wanted to go back to his laptop, to scanning the countless other emails and pretending that none of this had happened but he knew that he couldn’t.

There was no way of backing out of this. He was cornered and he shouldn’t even try.

Taehyung sighed and pushed the lunchbox aside so that he could pull the files closer to him instead. He opened the thin manilla one and slipped the photographs out, spreading them across the desk. The glossy surfaces reflected sunlight back at him. Then he opened his desk drawer and pulled a rather tattered notebook free, covered in scrawls of ink with torn and folded pages. Right now the other files could wait. Taehyung wanted to do his own investigation first; starting with identifying as many men in the photographs with Jungkook as he could. Then he would try and figure out what exactly that might mean.

If anyone on their team could predict the future of Haedogje Pa then it was him. That was why Namjoon had left him the files and had picked him as their spy. He had figured that much out on his own.

Taehyung sighed and turned to look at the photographs on his desk. No one on the shots looked back at him, all caught looking down the streets or at watches; fingers pressed to earpieces so that he could see black wires curling down and out of sight into shirt and suit jackets. No one stood out to him on this particular outing. There was a high chance that they were just hired thugs and nothing more; bodyguards for the baby heir in their midst. Taehyung dragged his eyes away from a bald-headed man to look at Jungkook: at The Boy. He tapped his pen against the notebook as he stared at him.

A new player on the chessboard, not a pawn but rather a king. Jungkook was limited right now, unable to move around much or control vast swathes of his empire yet. No, that still remained in the hands of his father; who was now something close to the queen. The most powerful but not the most important. Well, Taehyung knew his chess and that meant that he was going to be a rook.

There was much work to be had and he knew something else too.

He was going to need more coffee.

Taehyung knew about Haedogje Pa. He was sure that anyone working in the force would, along with those in government sectors and the judicial system. They were often referred to as a cancer, a malignant cancer that lingered and would never go away. They were something above every other gang in the country because they had long surpassed what could be counted as a “gang”. No petty street wars or power struggles. Haedogje Pa were an empire to be precise: the largest and most ruthlessly monitored empire in the entire of Seoul. Everyone knew about them, but no one could do a thing to rid them from existence.

The motto of Haedogje Pa was this: you’ve got the poison, we’ve got the antidote.

The poison applied to a great many things. The gang dealt in a rich profusion of drugs: marijuana and prescription medication like Valium and Xanax were the soft shit; Yeba, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine were the more in demand, the hardcore shit. But drugs weren’t the only things, though they certainly were a powerful foundation. Taehyung knew that the empire had been founded on drugs smuggled from American military camps into the general population. That meant that they were very important in regards to the culture of the empire.

A second staple and by no means last specialty of Haedogje Pa was countrywide prostitution. Taehyung didn’t like calling it that because that seemed to state that the gang dealt in sex workers, when in reality he knew that they were sex slaves. To call the women and men working the circuits willing was so far from the truth it was rather shocking. They were either drug-addicts, immigrants, runaway kids or desperate. With all of those factors put into play it wasn’t about workers anymore, but rather more people trapped under their control. First the addicts, then the slaves. There were underground strip clubs, brothels, dens filled with the kind of shit that Taehyung could only imagine. Sungah had worked on busting open prostitution rings before moving onto the vice desk, and he had heard stories. Stories that he had wished he never had.

They were more vices that interlaced under these two: gambling, pornography, extortion and other shit. These were just as important even if they seemed to be lesser, because they were just another pillar of strength that kept the gang standing strong and unbreakable. Looking for a chink in the armor was something that took years of work, and more often than not there was never enough time or strength to break through. Taehyung wasn’t stupid. He knew that an empire wasn’t just built on smarts and money alone. It required power and influence, along with protection. He knew that Haedogje Pa had links to all kinds of powers in the country. There would be politicians, chaebols and CEOs, judges and more all willing to help keep the business flowing and the risks low. They were Seoul’s biggest open secret, and not a thing could be done without information.

When he had joined the desk for narcotics and illegal substances he had found out about Haedogje Pa very quickly. Even now it was impossible to not see their name popping up everywhere that he looked. There wasn’t a day spent at his laptop that he didn’t come across the gang at least ten times. With them controlling the criminal underground in Seoul it made perfect sense. Yet Taehyung had discovered something when he had starting delving deeper into the databases. Taehyung had discovered his rather tremendous ability to recall names and faces, and chunks of information that he had never truly done so before. He had learnt the high-ranking members well enough to be almost a relative of theirs, and he could connect them all up like a web. It wasn’t just a single aspect that he could memorise, but rather entire hierarchical systems. Taehyung had never realised how fantastic his visual memory was, and it was sorting through the files and updating databases that had allowed him to show the team just how useful he really was. He wasn’t just a desk jockey, trapped behind a table with a laptop and a pot of coffee. He was so much more than that.

It had shocked Namjoon to the point of dumb silence when he had first given a name of a prolific member in regards to a conversation that he had overheard. The other young man and Youngjae had been puzzling over a rather sloppy hit on a dealer that had been called Oh, standing in front of a cork board just across the department room as they had tried to figure it all out. Taehyung had heard them trying to figure out who the fuck would have killed their own dealer when the name “Choi Wooyoung” had spilled out of his lips without a second’s hesitation. It had made perfect sense to him, seen as he had been listening to a recording just an hour earlier dated a month prior in which the man had vocalised concerns about a loss of profits in a district. The exact same district that Oh had worked before his untimely death. From there Namjoon and Youngjae had connected the dots, but they had needed the initial push in the right direction to do so.

That had been the first time that Taehyung had used his memory to assist in the process of lining up suspects for arrest. It had not been the last. He didn’t know why but he had just stored knowledge about Haedogje Pa away and he could utilise it without needing to reference the databases in most situations. Sungah had once referred to him as a university lecturer, an expert at Haedogje Pa knowledge. Daesu had told him that he needed to get a life.

It was that very skill of his that had gotten him caught right in Namjoon’s sights of course. If one were to send an undercover agent into the fray, what better one to pick than one that knew names and faces and allegiances almost as if they were already in the gang?

That was why he had been pulled out of desk duty and instead thrust into a series of terrifying and rigorous mandates to get him prepared. That was why, just a week from now, he was going to be dragged into Haedogje Pa. It was also why he was he sitting in a café with their informant halfway across the capital rather than at his office desk.

“Right,” Lim said as he opened the manilla file and started spreading the photographs out across the table. Over the slightly tacky coffee rings and scattering of loose sugar particles. “Let’s try this one last time, huh?”

Taehyung had never met Lim prior to this arrangement. Being an informant he had needed to stay well away from the department at all times, which was why Taehyung now owned a brand new phone and a whole new set of falsified credentials to his name. Upon first meeting him he had been surprised for he hadn’t looked like what he had expected. Taehyung had expected a rather grizzled middle-aged man, tough and sinewy in a street weathered kind of way. He had not expected a rather chubby man with stubble on his jowls and hair that was too long and slightly unkempt. But despite this he saw signs on him that showed that he had worked his job well. First of all his rather flat pug-like face showed a nose with a crooked bridge from multiple breakages, and his stubble couldn’t fully disguise the scar on his cheekbone either.

But it wasn’t just his face. Lim showed himself in a manner that bled confidence and influence. His suit was designer, the heavy Rolex wristwatch sneaking out from the cuffs whenever he reached over to retrieve something a sign of his bank account. He breathed slow and evenly. He even blinked as if on a perfectly timed cue. It showed fantastic control and Taehyung had found himself consciously copying him during their meetings. Lim was an informant, a spy in other words. He lived and breathed the Haedogje lifestyle and he didn’t break character once. Even during their meetings he was a gangster, not a police officer. At first Taehyung had been quite simply terrified by his brusque and blunt nature. One time he had made a mistake the man had grabbed one of the knives from their table and had stabbed it right at him. “That’s it, you’re dead,” Lim had spat and he had thrown himself back in the chair and had toppled over to land in a mess on the floor.

All he had done was state that Park Woobin was a dealer in methamphetamine. No, that was Park Wooyoung. Park Woobin had links to strip clubs and was most certainly not a name to be dropped in casual company lest he wanted to piss a great many men off.

Every time that Taehyung had made a mistake he had done something like that. A stab at his hand or chest with a rather blunt butter knife, the press of something against his knee that might just have been a gun from under the table. Lim had trained him to be so scared of fucking up a street name or the standardised charge for marijuana that Taehyung had learnt that thinking before replying was a safer option. Replies didn’t need to be blurted out like answers to a high school quiz. He could take three seconds to get a correct answer and keep his cool, rather than get it wrong and potentially lose his head.

It wasn’t about being perfect, Lim had told him. It was about knowing the information mostly for his own gain. The more he knew, the stronger he was. That was why he was being tutored like this. Knowledge is power, and every member of Haedogje Pa had power.

“Some of this is pretty easy,” Lim explained, settling the pages down like a teller dealing cards. “You’ve met one or two of ‘em before. If you dunno ‘em then this time I won’t pretend to stab you, I’ll fucking stick you like a roast pig kid.”

“The support’s appreciated like always,” Taehyung muttered as he watched him finish spreading the photographs out.

Lim hadn’t just taught him how to handle the pressure of quick thinking, he had also ensured that he been seen in his company around other low ranking members. Taehyung couldn’t just show up one day out of the blue. He had needed to be eased into it all. His wardrobe was no longer filled with casual clothing and the handful of shirts and black trousers that he needed for his desk duty. No, all of that had been replaced in favour of suits. Not designer, not yet, but better quality and well-fitted. He needed to look the part, in both fashion and how he held himself. Taehyung had spent many evenings in front of a mirror pulling at his shirt cuffs and just trying to look like he belonged in a suit; like it was a second skin to him. It was hard but he had reached a point in which he now felt a little more confident in himself.

Mostly that was because he had stood in the same room as several other gangsters other than Lim and he was still breathing now.

Those meetings had been absolute hell for him. Taehyung had spent the first three convinced that he would fuck up and say the wrong thing. Even when he hadn’t been the centre of attention he had been terrified. He was there to stand by Lim’s side, often like a silent witness to the deals that were agreed to. So far he had witnessed bribery for a local government election, the forced removal of a rather enthusiastic D.A., and illegal property development. That was Lim’s field of entry into Haedogje Pa, and it meant that Taehyung had needed to stay very alert in the small meetings. Always in public but in locations that he had known that the gang owned. Coffee stores that were always filled with men in suits and women that looked like escorts, restaurants with bouncers on the doors. He had once even been dragged to an underground strip club to sit in a back room for a deal. The bass had pounded loud enough for him to feel it like a heartbeat. As if the deal hadn’t been stressful enough, the sight of naked women and men writhing around poles and on polished counters hadn’t helped alleviate the sensation.

But it had paid off in his favour for he had caught the eye of a member. A very important member. The man was called Nam, first name currently unknown to him. But he had seen him in the presence of The Boy and that meant something. Nam had addressed him like he would an underling, but he had addressed him nonetheless. The man had wanted to know from Lim what exactly he had been in the meeting for. So Lim had explained that he was a tribute to Haedogje Pa, a new willing recruit. From behind his shades Nam had studied him intently, all business deals at hand suddenly forgotten about in favour of him.

Then the man had turned to one of his lackeys with a grin on his face and Taehyung had heard him say: “he would love him, huh? Look at that face”. Taehyung had yet to figure out who exactly he had meant by that.

Yes, the meetings over the near three month period had been rather hellish. His fears of fucking up had been unfounded. He hadn’t, but he had often ended up retching over a toilet bowl shortly after they had finished for his relief had finally caused his nausea to take over.

“Right, give it to me kid,” Lim said as he sat back in his chair and lifted both arms up. He swept them out in a casual gesture, a “show me what you can do” kind of thing. So Taehyung leaned over the photographs and he took a second to run his eyes over them.

“Nam,” he said, stabbing his forefinger down.

“Who’s he? C’mon, quicker.”

“Supplier of skin. Gets girls and boys from Laos, prepubescent. Doesn’t deal in adults. Owner of Blue in Gangnam-gu. The club is an investment, all cash earned goes in his pocket and not to Haedogje Pa. That’s why Choi Sooyoung,” Taehyung tapped another photograph, “has a fucking chip on his shoulder.”

“Why?”

“‘Cos Choi thinks himself a philanthropist. He circulates earnings in Dobong-gu for homeless shelters. Choi preaches that Haedogje Pa should look like guardians in their respective districts: care for the people and they’ll keep you in the profit zone. Nam doesn’t give a shit. They’ve been at each other’s throats for months now. You’ll never see ‘em together.”

“What does Choi Sooyoung do?”

“Hypocritical fucker runs scams.” Taehyung moved his hand to hit another photograph, fingers bouncing off the end of the man’s chin. “Bae Goohee.”

“Slimey-looking fucker. Gimme facts.”

“Arms dealer. Deals in handguns mostly, but can procure assault weapons when needed. Chinese mostly, mass-produced. Gets the rare shipment from Russia but mostly it’s China or Vietnam.” Lim was nodding at him now, showing that he approved of what he was hearing. “Bae’s a tough fucker. You don’t cross him. He’s well-respected and you don’t even look him in the eyes you just get on your knees.”

“That motherfucker didn’t even blink when he cut me up,” Lim muttered. Taehyung paused for a second to stare at the man before shifting in his seat.

“Bae’s got the strongest connections to The Boy-”

“No, don’t call him that. That’s wrong it’s too…” Lim waved his wrist around rather than grab for a knife like usual. “Call him by his proper title or you could piss him off. Don’t matter what others call him, call him Master.”

“No, not all of ‘em. Him,” he tapped the final photograph, “Kim Jinwoo. Pretty boy. He’s the son of Jeon’s old partner Kim Jintae. Owns The Gold Monkey Casino in Singapore. That’s probably one of the strongest pillars of oversea influence that Haedogje Pa have at their disposal. He’s been palled up with Master Jeon since childhood but…”

“But?”

“Word coming from the pawns is that Master Jeon and Kim don’t play nice with each other. Something to do with religion. Kim’s a born again what’re they called…bible fucker, and he doesn’t like Jeon’s bad behaviour.”

“If only we knew what he gets up to,” Lim said as he folded his arms on the table. “But he’s still too secretive.”

“That’s where I step in,” Taehyung said, not meaning to sound cocky but unable to stop the words from spilling free.

“Kim, I got one thing to say to you,” Lim said, expression hardening as he did. Taehyung had to resist the pressing urge to gulp. After a few seconds of silence the man burst out laughing and he nearly jumped in surprise. “You’re a crazy kid but I like that. You’d have to be fucking crazy to agree to doing this.”

Learning the ins and outs of Haedogje Pa wasn’t the only thing that Taehyung had had to undertake over the last three months. He had been forced to join a gym by Hoseok, who was also in charge of disciplining him. The other officer had had a rather rushed period trying to get him into the physical and mental state that would make it seem like he had finished serving his military duty not too long before working for Lim. That was a strength according to the informant, for military duty showed that he was a man that would follow orders. Taehyung had spent the entire time wishing that he would show them all that he hadn’t been made for the task. But after a month he had found himself starting to get very much used to the hell that Hoseok had put him through. To say that he enjoyed it was a lie but he at least now felt like he was in a better condition to tackle the challenge.

But Hoseok had not just been in charge of drilling him into the right mold. No, the other officer had been given the responsibility of teaching him how to use a firearm. Just like how Namjoon had told him he would receive training he had. It was a skill that Taehyung had expected but had been almost hoping that he wouldn’t have to learn. He knew that Haedogje Pa men carried heat, not all but the important ones did. He needed to have knowledge on using them too, even if the sight of the gun had scared him when Hoseok had first placed it in his hand. But he was starting to understand and accept firearms a lot better now.

Taehyung realised that his initial fear of the weapon had been incorrect for it had been a fear of the unknown. After handling a pistol, after learning to take it apart and clean it, to snap the safety back and how to replace magazines, he had discovered that he had been wrong in his fear. It wasn’t the gun he should be scared of, but rather the man wielding it.

Haedogje Pa were not like Hoseok however, and getting used to the sight of a gun in his hand was not the same as it would be in reality. Taehyung would see them in holsters, tucked into the waistbands of trousers. He could see guns placed on tables like cutlery. If he saw one being drawn he was pretty certain that it would result in death, and that meant that he didn’t ever want to be on the the receiving end of the barrel.

Much like how Lim had to grill him over and over to ensure that he remembered vital names and faces, Hoseok also had to make him go over the mechanisms of a gun every single time they entered the shooting range. Not a police one but rather a private range owned by a security company. Taehyung already knew all about the parts, he had been dissembling and reassembling the practice guns nearly every day for three months now. Yet Hoseok still had to do it, because it was standard procedure. Taehyung knew that constant handling of a gun would eventually result in muscle memory. He would be able to work the safety and reload with nothing more than a quick glance and deft movements of his fingers. Hoseok had timed him and he now had reloading down to three seconds if he had a magazine close to hand. But that still felt like too long to Taehyung. He spent those three seconds holding his breath and imagining how many other bullets could fly in that time.

The firing range was currently empty save for them. They were standing in the booth as far from the entrance as they could get. The booths were separated from the range by a long stretch of several feet, each booth separated from the next by a slight wall of concrete. On the ceiling of the range there were pulleys and they were controlled by a button on the wall, and at the far end of the range there was a paper target.

“See this? What’s this?” Hoseok asked as he gestured at the sliding mechanism set just above the trigger on the side of the barrel. On the counter beside them were several magazines of blanks and cleaning equipment. Taehyung studied the gun for a moment before looking back up at him.

“Thumb safety-” and before he could even ask him the next question he added, “if it’s down by the nuzzle the safety’s on. If it’s pulled back towards the well it’s off. Also there should be a slight flash of red inside the safety mechanism, but like I’d have time to fucking check.”

“Funny,” Hoseok said with a smirk. “Should I be scared by how unfazed you are by guns now? Or concerned?”

“I’m still fucking terrified of ‘em,” Taehyung argued as he looked at the gun. “But target practice is one thing, shooting at actual people is another. You can’t teach me that. You can’t teach me how to not be affected by that.”

“Well, I can tell you that I’ve shot people before. Disabling shots not killing shots, but it still feels bad Tae, ‘cos it’s supposed to feel bad. What you need to remember is that you’re being taught this for self-defense. If you’ve gotta shoot someone, then you gotta.” Hoseok slipped the safety back on the unloaded gun. “They’re not gonna stop. It’s you or them.”

“You think I’ll even get my hands on a gun?” Taehyung asked as he reached over to pull the gun out of his hands. Hoseok watched him fiddling with it, snapping back the magazine lock so that he could slip another round of blanks into the bottom. The magazine slipped in with a crisp click. “You think they’re gonna trust me enough to give me a gun?”

“I think you’re gonna get as close to The Boy as possible and you’re gonna get one,” Hoseok explained, arms folded over his chest. “You’re not gonna be allowed in certain buildings without them. The closer you get to the top, the more dangerous shit gets. All of his men, the ones you see him with. They’re carrying. They have fucking permits to carry, security personnel. Can’t stop them, but I know. I can tell by the way they walk, the way they carry themselves. Armpit holsters.”

“You and Namjoon, fuck, all of you think I’m gonna get close to him. What if I don’t, huh? What if fall at the first fucking hurdle?”

“You’re not gonna fall, Tae, stop acting like a fucking pussy,” Hoseok muttered as he reached up and pulled the headphones back in place. Taehyung glanced over at him for a moment and he saw that this expression was entirely serious. He wasn’t laughing, or joking. No, looking at him it was easy enough to believe that he was telling him the truth. If only he could believe it. “Aim for kill shots this time, OK?!”

“Yeah, sure thing,” he said as he reached up and fixed the headphones in place too. It was strange, the sudden muffled hearing, but even that could only bring the sound down to a reasonable level and not block it out fully. Then he slipped the thumb safety back and lifted the pistol. Beside him Hoseok slipped a new sheet of target paper onto the hook and then pressed a button on the wall. The machine kicked in with a faint vibrating sound as it carried the target back to the designated distance and then it stopped in place; just waiting to become a bullseye.

Taehyung took a deep breath just like he had advised and let it out slowly before pulling the trigger. The gun jumped in his hand just like always, the dull bang of the recoil. But he was certain that he was getting better now. Maybe that was foolish optimism but he was certain that he was. After all, he managed to keep his arms straight and steady with each pull of the trigger and he no longer had an aching shoulder when the practice was finished. That had to mean that he was improving somehow.

When there was nothing more than a dry click to signal that the magazine was empty he lowered his arm and breathed again. Then he reached up to pull the headphones free whist Hoseok pressed the button so that he could collect the sheet. Taehyung placed the gun down on the counter and flexed his fingers.

“Let’s see…” Hoseok pulled the sheet free and held it up. They could see clean through the bullet holes. “Stomach, two shots. Crippling, maybe enough to drop a man for the count but we need to work on that. Chest shot, good, right through the middle.” Taehyung gnawed on the lip as he eyed the one around the shoulder, knowing that that was a mistake. “Clip close enough to an artery and it’ll be fine but shoulder shots are for disarming, not killing.” Hoseok stopped talking and they both stared at the perfect holes in the target’s head. “Both excellent shots but remember-”

“Headshots are hard, moving targets, small area,” Taehyung said, repeating his words back to him like an elementary school kid.

“Exactly, so we need to fix those stomach shots,” Hoseok said as he placed the ruined sheet down. “I want to see at least five shots in the chest before we finish today.”

“Shit,” Taehyung moaned as the other man collected a new target sheet and stuck it on the hook. “Hoseok, do Haedogje Pa a favour and just kill me now instead.”

It was a day before he was set to leave with Lim for the hoped date of infiltration when Taehyung found himself outside of Namjoon’s apartment room door. He didn’t know why exactly he was standing in the slight hallway area, staring at the security system on the wall rather than pressing the button to let himself in. Something at the back of his mind told him that it was too late for this. The time on the system told him that it was nearly 11pm and yet here he was, frozen to the spot. He should just turn around and leave but he couldn’t. Taehyung knew the reason why he couldn’t and it was quite simply this.

He was terrified and he couldn’t possibly face the idea of travelling across the capital to enter Haedogje Pa territory without getting to speak to Namjoon at least one last time. That was why he was standing here with his hand hovering above the buzzer and his brain filled with frantic thoughts. He felt the most pressing urge to gnaw on his lip and before he could do so he pressed his finger down on the button.

Taehyung let go of the button and leaned back, letting his breath out in a heavy sigh as he did. He reached up with his free hand to rub at his eyes with his rolled up fingers. He was tired, so very tired. The entire morning had been spent in the gym and the early afternoon in a meeting. Taehyung had seen Nam again, that annoying fuck, and had once again heard the man talking about him openly as if he were an object. He hadn’t liked it, it had made him feel uncomfortable but his words seemed to hint that he might just have a fighting chance at this after all. The rest of the afternoon he had been memorising last minute information and he had practiced at the target range alone because Hoseok had been coordinating a raid.

This was it. The three months were finally coming to a climax, and Taehyung was terrified.

After perhaps ten seconds of silence and waiting he heard something on the other side of the door. Footsteps. Then the door was swinging inwards and Namjoon was leaning in the doorway. The man was still wearing his work clothes and it seemed like he had still been working. The shirt was wrinkled and free from his trouser waistband and his black hair looked a little messier than usual.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Taehyung. You should be resting before D-Day,” Namjoon explained as he studied his face.

“I know I know, I’ll go right away I just…I need to talk,” Taehyung replied, dropping his hand to his side and darting his eyes everywhere rather than settle on his face. It took a moment for him to react but then Namjoon was moving out of the way to let him step inside. “It’s about D-Day.”

“I figured as much.”

Taehyung glanced over the apartment room only briefly before deciding to stay standing by the door. He didn’t need to remove his shoes and step inside, he just needed to get all of this weight off his chest right now. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, detecting the unmistakable scent of jajangmyeon from across the wide room. Yes it seemed like Namjoon was still working, eating takeaway food to save himself the trouble of having to prepare the meal.

“Namjoon?”

“Yes?” he asked, also staying by the door seen as he had figured out that he wasn’t moving.

“D’you…d’you think I can do this?” Taehyung asked, trying to not fiddle as he did. “I mean, be honest with me. D’you think I can do this without fucking up? ‘Cos I keep hearing from the team that I can, that I can do this but I dunno. I need to hear it from you man. D’you think I can do it?”

Namjoon didn’t reply straight away, didn’t give him a direct and almost spontaneous response. Taehyung was glad of it, for hearing the words “yes you can” without even the slightest bit of consideration was not a comfort to him. He needed to know that he was really thinking about what he had asked; was weighing up the pros and cons of it all. So when the other man fell silent and didn’t speak Taehyung felt something close to relief. After perhaps a minute of this thick silence Namjoon moved to stand right in front of him.

“What I think,” he said as he placed his hands on his shoulders. His palms were warm and the weight was comforting. “Is that we’ve got one shot at this and you…you’re our only chance at success. I’m not going to tell you that you can do it, because I don’t know that. I don’t want to lie or give some shitty attempt at false comfort. I want to be honest.”

“That’s all I wanna hear,” Taehyung agreed with a nod. “Give it to me straight.”

“I think we couldn’t have picked a better person for the one shot that we’ve got Taehyung. I’ve put my trust in you, and you know I don’t often trust people with such a high level of responsibility. Not because I think they will fuck up, but because would rather take the risks myself. I can’t do that, so that’s why I’ve put all my trust in you.”

“I don’t wanna let the team down,” Taehyung explained in a quiet voice. It wasn’t like he was going to have to live with it after all. No, if he fucked this up he would be dead long before the team even had a clue. But knowing that his fuck up would affect them even long after he was dead was what scared Taehyung the most right now. Death was fucking terrifying, but leaving a legacy of failure behind. No thanks.

“Taehyung, stop thinking about the team. In fact, don’t think about us at all. We’re not a team as of tomorrow. Thinking of the outside world, that’s risky. Right now it’s just you. That’s it, you’re the only thing that matters. Yes?” Taehyung nodded to show that he understood. “Things are going to…to get fucking terrifying for you. I’m not going to lie. I busted a ring once Taehyung, it’s not fun and it’s not easy. You will see things and hear things that will fuck you up. But you’re strong, yes, you can handle the shit.”

“Did you have to do some shit?” he asked him. Namjoon removed his hands from his shoulder and he reached down to his waistband. Taehyung watched him lift his shirt ends up to reveal his lower stomach. He saw the unmistakable rippling mark of scar tissue running from just around his hip bone up on a sharp twist to his side.

“I spent a year in Kowloon,” Namjoon explained, “busting open a supplier of heroin that was trafficking it into the country. I was one of many rookies sent out there. I made it through but I know quite a few that didn’t.” Taehyung stared at the scar and he tried to imagine what could have possibly have caused it. “You can’t really put into words the shit you see. I’m not just talking about death. I’m talking about poverty, desperation, greed, true horrors. I was on heroin.”

Taehyung lifted his gaze so fast that his eyes nearly rolled up into his skull. Heroin? He knew that undercover agents often had to handle the abuses of drugs to ensure they kept up a façade. But heroin? It was enough to make his skin go cold thinking about it. Looking at Namjoon now, he wasn’t look at a fellow officer. He was looking at a veteran. He was looking at a young man that had done service to the country and yet he didn’t have a medal, had no congratulations.

“Yes, that kind of shit messes you up. A part of me feels like I’m never going to be the same again, feels afflicted. But I did something good. To me, that makes what I went through mean something.”

“Christ Namjoon.”

“I did some shit, and you will have to do it too. Because that’s how you survive,” Namjoon said as let go of his shirt ends. “But you should know Taehyung, that no matter what you have to do; you’re still the good guy.”

“The…the good guy?”

“Yes, you’re going to bring them down. You’re not a part of Haedogje Pa. You’re their enemy, and you’re going to destroy them.”

“Can I really stay the good guy if I…if I have to do bad shit Namjoon?” Taehyung asked as he nibbled on his lower lip.

“Do you think I’m a good guy?” Namjoon asked, and so he nodded and told him that he was. “Even after you found out that I had to do things that sometimes haunt me and wake me up at night?”

“Yeah, ‘cos I know you and I know you’re good.”

“Well I know you Taehyung and I know you’re one of the good guys. No matter what happens I know you won’t let that shit destroy you.”

Chapter Text

It was always the same, day-in and day-out. Jungkook was tired of the monotony and yet there was nothing he could do to break the endless cycle. He had tried a great many things, had discovered a desperate longing to find new hobbies to cause mild enjoyment. Never exciting, it never even got close to exciting for him. This wasn’t his life or his choices, not at all. He was just living out the future that had already been decided for him from his birth. He hadn’t been chosen as an apprentice, plucked and groomed into his position by nurturing and caring hands. It had not been something that he himself had wished for. No, he was very much a slave to his own future. And all because he had been born as the single son to the head of the largest organised gang in the country. It was a curse he supposed in some regards. Yet he had never went a single day wanting materially. He had always had a warm home and a full stomach, possessed more things and had had more attention catered to him than he had ever really needed. What he did have might not have been necessary things, but they were certainly the parts essential to living a lavish life. Though he was unneeding in most regards it didn’t mean that he had everything however. There was something missing, that much he knew. Jungkook didn’t really know what but it was missing.

Sometimes the missing thing felt rather small, a slight issue. Like that of a missing tooth. It was irritating and most certainly uncomfortable but it was bearable. He would poke around and feel at it with the tip of his tongue but most of the time he could ignore it. But sometimes it felt so much more than that. Sometimes Jungkook felt like there was a gaping hole in his side. A wound created by Longinus’ spear itself. It would ache and he would almost feel the need to dig his fingers into his skin just to check if there really wasn’t a wound. There was nothing there of course, no massive trench in his tender flesh. He was whole physically but seemingly not mentally. Jungkook didn’t know what it was or how to get rid of it, only that eventually it would disappear and grant him peace for some time before returning. The usual medicine to kick it was alcohol, though he found that that could make it worst. Occasionally he alternated between a line of cocaine or a palmful of downers to try and chase it all away. Failing that there was always his penthouse suite a certain lithe and warm body waiting for him. But Jungkook knew that he could only ignore the matter at hand for so long. At least he had work to distract him right now, though it wasn’t exactly the kind that he enjoyed doing.

Jungkook was sitting in the backseat of his Mercedes-Benz S-Class right now, on his way to Mapo-gu. Not for him exactly but more for his father. Or at least on his father’s orders. His driver was in the front just like always, for Jungkook only used one man. The same chauffeur over and over meant that he could anticipate the routes that his driver would take, therefore helping him keep to a schedule. The man’s name was Yang and only the back of his head was visible, the flat black cap he wore as part of his uniform. Sitting on the other end of the backseat and technically beside him was an associate named Woo. Jungkook supposed that he was a mentor of sorts, though it was hard to not see him as a babysitter most days. Where he went, Woo went. The man had no links to gang activity save for being a sort of bookkeeper. Woo seemed to know absolutely everything that was going on within each district before anyone else did. He used this wonderful skill in assisting in the creation or extermination of any possible transactions and contracts. That was why he had been chained to his side for the day. To ensure that he didn’t fuck any of the important stuff up during the meeting. If he should possibly end up doing so Woo would be there, just like always giving him sudden and often unwanted advice.

Like a snake dangling down from the bowers of a tree to wrap around him and trap him in place.

Jungkook didn’t have to answer to Woo or even take his advice. There was nothing stopping him from doing what he so wished but there was always one rather irritating consequence. His father would find out and he would be annoyed. That meant hour long lectures on why he should listen to others before making decisions; about how their empire had been founded upon the strength and wisdom of all, not just one. Jungkook thought that that was bullshit because if all had worked together why was only one currently on top? Yet his father would roll it all out to him like a well-rehearsed speech and he would nod along, and at the end he would hear that his father had blocked his decision anyway.

The joys of being a powerless heir. But not so much anymore. Jungkook had started being allowed to have actual influence on business transactions now. Which was likely why Woo was as ever present as always. And right now Woo wouldn’t stop talking about business. Not even the important parts but every minute fucking detail.

“I’m bored with this,” Jungkook said suddenly as shifted on the seat, cocking his elbow up onto the padded leather armrest. The sleeve of his suit rustled against it and he rested the side of his head on his curled up fingers. At his words he saw Woo turning his head to look at him, and it was clear that the man didn’t know what he meant by this. Did he think that he was talking about the endless stream of business he had been unleashing on him for the past ten minutes now?

“Bored with what, Master Jeon?” Woo asked. The man had a full head of greying hair and rounded spectacles that made his eyes looked too large for the rest of his features. There was a pinched look about his face that matched his prim personality to perfection. He couldn’t even recall seeing the man drink a glass of champagne in the past.

“This car,” Jungkook explained, reaching down with his free hand to run it over the middle seat. His fingers rubbed along the leather with a rather distinct sound. Black leather, rather than the standard cream. Cream leather was tacky and rather stupid in his opinion. Black was better, classier and easier to maintain. No need to worry about leaving bloodstains on the upholstery. He had needed to have it refurbished shortly after receiving it as a gift for this very purpose. But even the new leather couldn’t get him to like it.

Simply put Jungkook hated gifts. He hated them because more often than not they were wrong. Fuji silk ties rather than charmeuse silk. An expensive bottle of champagne that tasted like piss as opposed to a cheaper alternative that was palatable and sweet. It wasn’t about the price tag, and yet it seemed that every gift lavished onto him was about the price rather than the quality. Like a fucking Mercedes-Benz S-Class with a cream leather interior.

Cream?

“I’m bored of the fucking car, I want a new one instead.”

Woo eyed the interior of the car as if trying to find a fault of some kind. He wouldn’t, and Jungkook knew that he would no doubt be internally questioning him. The man wouldn’t voice his opinions aloud however, for that required a spine. No, Woo would see perfection and he would think about how much he would have to work to get one of these babies, and he might just even think of him as a spoilt brat. Jungkook wasn’t entirely sure if he would for he didn’t seem the type. But if the man were to think of him in such a way…Jungkook would find himself liking him a lot more. But Woo only asked him what car he was thinking of, rather than advise against it like usual.

“A…a Mitsubishi Dignity.”

“With all due respect, Master Jeon, your father won’t-”

“It already has the black upholstery,” Jungkook continued over him, as if the man wasn’t even talking to him, “so that’s nothing to worry about. The body is better looking too, I really like the curves on the-”

“Master Jeon,” Woo said. He stretched the title out to try and get his attention and so Jungkook paused and finally looked at the man. “It’s a Japanese company. You know how your father feels about that. I don’t think he would-”

Jungkook sighed and reached inside his jacket pocket to slip his phone free. He unlocked it without even looking, thumb flitting across the screen quick and precise. Woo stopped talking and instead dropped his eyes to stare at the device. When it was clear what he was doing the man made a series of noises under his breath.

“Master Jeon, your father might be busy maybe you shouldn’t call him right now?”

“He’s always busy. The key,” Jungkook explained as he pressed his thumb against the contact name and held the phone up to his ear, “is to not give a fuck. If you had to wait until he was never busy to get shit done well…you would be waiting forever, Woo.”

He listened to the dial tone on the line as he gently ran his fingers along the armrest. Was that a nick he could feel in the leather? What sorry son of a bitch had nicked a scratch into his car? He ran his fingers back over to the spot and felt over it a few times, ascertaining that it was indeed a nick; a deep one at that. That wouldn’t do. If he had had no reason to want a new car before he had one now. The thing was ruined. On the other end of the seat he could both see and hear Woo fiddling almost nervously. It was as if he was the one calling his father, rather than the other way around. The day that his father got pissed at him was the day that the sun exploded, that much Jungkook knew. There was just three dial tones before there was a slight crackle of static on the line. That meant that his father had picked up, and right on the tail of the sound was his voice.

“Are you at the meeting yet, son?”

“No, not yet. We’re still travelling there right now.”

“Good, I have something important that I want to discuss.” Jungkook told him to explain and he heard a soft creaking sound in the background; that of his father leaning back in his seat. “There are so rather…troublesome inaccuracies with this month’s profit margins for Mapo-gu. It was brought to my attention that a certain club owner might have been dipping into profits to fund his rather depressing addiction to snuff pornography. I doubt you’ll have a problem figuring out who I’m talking about. I want you to see that his misdemeanor sends a very strong message that Haedogje Pa earnings are not a money pot that he can stick his filthy fucking fingers into.”

“I have an idea who that will be,” Jungkook said as he turned to look out of the window. “Anything else you require?”

“Yes, a dealer didn’t give a tribute,” his father said. A tribute meaning new fresh recruit for them to assess and allow into the ranks. It wasn’t necessary that one brought one in, but with the current need to refresh the stale blood running through the empire it made sense. Anyone that didn’t offer at least a single tribute in their respective neighbourhood looked very much like they weren’t loyal to not only Haedogje Pa, but also to the new leader.

“Oh dear…and he’ll have to sit in a meeting with me. How very unfortunate.”

“Don’t discipline him, but let him know that this slight is something that must be corrected. Make him show just how loyal he really is to us. Now, I must get back to-”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the car,” Jungkook said, and he almost heard his father changing positions on the other end of the line. He could picture his shoulders stiffening and his expression hardening, a sign that he knew what was coming. “That’s why I called you, I want a new car.”

“What type of car exactly, son?” his father asked.

“A Mitsubishi Dignity.” Jungkook watched the streets go past in a blur without really taking any of it in. His concentration was elsewhere right now, all of his focus on his father’s voice so that he could anticipate and plan his next move.

“I’m not buying you a Japanese car, Jungkook. You want a Japanese whore? Fine. Not a car. Do you want me to piss all over my father and his father’s honour?” He rolled his eyes at this remark. All of this drama over a fucking car. “Piece of shit car would fall apart within a week. You want a new car? Buy a Ssangyong just like-”

“Just like you, I know but…daddy.” Jungkook was using his trump card now and he knew it. But if he played it just right then it wouldn’t matter. “We both know that Korean cars are actually shit, not Japanese. You only drive the Ssangyong because it was a gift from the mayor. We both know you’d rather have a Lincoln MKS. At least that’s not a piece of shit, but you’ve got to put up appearances so you can’t have it just yet. But we also both know that Mayor Jung will be gone by the next term. He’s old and fat and he’s probably going to have a coronary.” There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line at this. “So,” Jungkook stopped running his fingers across the armrest and instead lifted them up to study his nails, “a Lincoln MKS would make an excellent birthday present. Don’t you think, daddy?”

“I will buy you any car but that one, Jungkook. Not a Japanese car,” his father said in a stern tone. It was the kind of tone that would make their men drop to their knees in front of him, or would make men like Woo piss themselves. But not him. Jungkook knew that they hadn’t even gotten close to the end of negotiations yet. He was just warming up. Right now his father had likely reached up to remove a pen from his breast pocket so he could do his usual routine. Pretend to be distracted with papers in the hopes that he would leave it all alone, but it never worked. See, Jungkook had his own routine too, and unlike his father’s his actually worked.

“But daddy, I want it,” he retorted, voice bordering on something that might have passed for a spoilt whine a few years ago. Had his father been in the car with him he would have seen the petulant pout too, but he wasn’t. That usually worked to his favour. Never on his mother, she hated the pouting routine because she told him that it would create wrinkles. But his father was rather pathetic at the sight of his sulky expression. It worked even better if he cocked his head to the side like a puppy. It was rather funny just how easy it was to manipulate his father. Jungkook knew that the fact he was an only child was the reason why he had gotten his way for his entire life. There might just come a time when that didn’t happen but he doubted it. Jungkook was poised to take over the empire and that meant that he would keep getting his way, just from those that served below him rather than his only true superior.

“This car is boring, I don’t like it anymore. A brand new Dignity would look so much better. Anybody with an American Express card can buy a Mercedes-Benz these days. The key to making an impression is to stand out, right?” More silence on the other end of the line. “You didn’t want to buy me my gun, remember? Because you said that I’d get bored and want another but I didn’t. That’s because I got to pick it, and I didn’t pick the S-Class. It was a gift from Uncle Kyungsoo.”

“May the bastard rot in hell.”

“Exactly. Do you really want me riding around in a car gifted from him? It might not be a Japanese car, but it’s not a good car either.”

“…This is the last gift,” his father said, “for a whole year, Jungkook. If you ask for another thing I’ll see to it that the windows of that fucking Mit-shit-bishi are smashed in and the tank is turned into scrap metal.”

“Thank you, daddy,” Jungkook said in a sweet tone before pulling the phone away and ending the call. He glanced over at Woo to see that the man was looking at him in disbelief and it was enough to bring a wide grin to his lips. “Looks like I’m getting a Japanese car.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket before shifting in his seat. “Right, back to business but not your business. Important business regarding this meeting.”

“Please go on, Master Jeon.”

“Father wants me to address two associates that are out of line, one very and one edging it. I believe without a doubt that I know the first but I have my doubts about the second. I would need to see the men in reality to gauge who it might be.”

“Who do you believe to be the first insubordinate, Master Jeon?”

“Father said that a nightclub owner is dipping into profit margins to fuel his own vices. Now there are a great many clubs in Mapo-gu but most of them are personal investments for associates and not Haedogje Pa property. There is but one major chain in Mapo-gu and that chain is owned by Do Seunghoon.”

“Yes, you’re correct, Master Jeon. Do is the only owner of nightclubs in the district that belong directly to Haedogje Pa. The profits earned aren’t his to use, and a single won spent on personal vices is most certainly insubordinate behaviour.”

“I also know a rather wonderful story surrounding Do that matches with father’s information. Father said that the lost profits might be fueling snuff pornography. I know for a fact that Do had three dead bodies smuggled out of his own private booth in one of these nightclubs just two months ago. All female prostitutes, all severely strangled with their panties shoved in their mouths. I’ve been keeping tabs on him ever since and let’s just say his internet history is absolutely nightmarish.” Jungkook snorted and reached down to brush at the knee of his trousers before looking at Woo. “What are your opinions on this?”

“I believe that you’re correct, Master Jeon,” Woo said as he fixed his glasses. “Do is indeed someone you would call a…fucked up individual. What do you think are fitting reactions to his behaviour?”

“I’ve got an idea in my mind, a rather wonderful one. All you need to know about Do is that he will enter the meeting but he won’t leave. Now the second issue.” Woo asked him to explain this one to him and Jungkook settled back in his seat. “A certain drug dealer didn’t give us a tribute. Of the men gathered for this meeting there are exactly three dealers: Ahn Bohyun, Kim Dongwoo and Park Myungsoo. Each one covers different fields. Kim, he’s strictly marijuana and party drugs and he sells predominantly to foreign tourists and business people. Park supplies heroin. Ahn deals in cocaine. Now, based on their products I have an inkling of who it might be but I’m not entirely certain.”

“Who are you think, Master Jeon?”

“Ahn.” After a few seconds of silence he turned his head to look at the other man. “Coke’s being dropping of late, sales and profit. Ahn’s the only one of the three with a legitimate excuse for missing the deadline for a tribute. I expect that he’s been struggling to meet profit targets this month, which would explain it all.”

“What if it’s not Ahn, Master Jeon?”

“Well,” Jungkook glanced out of the window to see that the building was drawing close. That meant that they would be getting out of the car in a minute or so, so he had to hurry. “If it’s not him there’s no excuse for Park or Kim will suffer harsh consequences. My last issue to address is this: who would be willing to kill Mayor Jung?”

“…That would take some time to ascertain an answer to, Master Jeon,” Woo said after a moment of thought. The car pulled through a pair of wrought iron railings and then it was crunching over loose gravel to drive across the wide entrance lot. “I would have to check out networks.”

“I want him dead by the new year, so let me know when you have ample information.” He waited until the car stopped completely, engine dead and air still. Woo got up first and exited his side so that he could walk around the back of the car and open his door for him. Jungkook took a deep breath of the rather frigid fresh air and then he climbed out of the car. He fixed his jacket buttons as he did, smoothing the creases out of the middle and his waistcoat. Appearance was everything and some of these men would be seeing him for the first time. That meant that he had to carry himself with the same level of perfection that his father did. They were standing in a large lot at the front of the building. To his knowledge it had been a boarding house at some point, and it still served its purpose now for the tributes to be lodged in. Across the lot there was a large brick archway that led into a forecourt and thus to the real entrance of the building. Jungkook studied the weathered red bricks and pitted layers of cement between them as he prepared himself for it all.

“Woo, I trust your advice,” he said as he carried on fixing his suit jacket. His breath plumed out into the air like cigarette smoke. “But don’t advise against my punishment like you did last time. The one thing I have to show authority in is punishment.”

“I won’t, Master Jeon. So long as Do is indisposed of and our tribute-less dealer is still breathing then any punishment should be fitting.”

“That’s exactly what I was planning on happening,” Jungkook said as he tightened his tie and slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. “So, let’s get this meeting started.”

Just like when Woo started his usual tirade about business deals and profile margins, and everything possibly in between, Jungkook found that his interests rapidly waned in the situation. It wasn’t that such matters bored him, for he understood that every single second in the world of business affected everything else: a cycle of chain reactions that would all be sparked from one tiny mistake. Jungkook understood this, and he understood all of the minute details that came with each aspect; from brokering to negotiating, to introducing standardised charges and flat rates for businesses. He understood it, but he didn’t want to hear it all. What he wanted wasn’t long explanations, handy graphs and predicted statistics. Jungkook wanted the facts. He wanted everything quick and straightforward because it made everything else move faster. Why spend fifteen solid minutes presenting useless information to make everything sound good when he could just be given an exact figure and a yes or no? That took twenty seconds at most. And yet every single man in the meeting seemed to want his fifteen minutes of fame.

A file was placed down in front of him and Jungkook realised that someone had been talking to him this entire time. He furrowed his brow at the object before glancing over his shoulder at the man to see that it was Lee, Lee Dukwon. Ah yes, he was one of the skin dealers and so Jungkook opened the file. The sight he was greeted by was photographs of naked women. Jungkook had to resist the urge to sigh heavily. Was this meant to keep his attention in any way? It wasn’t working, and so he flicked through and then shoved the file away a few seconds later.

“You have North Korean women illegally smuggled into the country from China and have an appealing catch about getting to fuck “authentic communist pussy” and you have beliefs?” Jungkook raised his eyebrows at this and barely suppressed a snort. “Start dealing in men by the new year or I’ll see that your taxes are increased.”

“But, Master Jeon-”

“Personal beliefs are a hindrance to effective profits, Lee. Haedogje Pa don’t run on personal beliefs, we run on rules. Stop favouring yourself before us, Lee, or there will be consequences much worse than increased fucking taxes.” Jungkook spared a glance over at Woo to see that the man was silent and in no way objective. Good, he wasn’t taking any of that back. Then he turned back to look at Lee. “Sell skin or change your business ventures to cheap crack, don’t make me tell you again, Lee.”

“…Yes, Master Jeon,” the man said with a meek nod as he moved to collect the file and then went back to his seat across the table. Jungkook ran his eyes over the room for a moment, enjoying the few seconds of peace.

It was a long stretch of polished oak, richly coloured and solid to the touch. If he were to rap his knuckles on it it would make a sound much skin to a judge’s gavel. Along the length of wood there were six men, three on either side and him seated at the very top. Woo didn’t sit at the table but rather by the doors. It meant that he could watch it all like a hawk and should he have reason to voice a complaint he would get to his feet and move to lean down and whisper it to his ear. Jungkook always took great delight in watching his men and their flickering gazes, on him and then over to Woo: the silent witness. If he so much as moved in his seat then all eyes would move to him. The flooring of the meeting room was similar dark wood to the table and the walls were cream. The wall opposite to the door was a stretch of tall windows and the others were plain of decoration save for a single display directly facing Jungkook. Two flags were hanging, the national flag and one with the Jeon family crest printed with Haedogje Pa’s motto underneath. The crest was nothing more than the characters in black calligraphy over a white lotus on the black silk but it was one that anyone that belonged to Haedogje Pa would recognise. He studied the flags before swallowing a sigh and turning to the windows.

The outside view was a courtyard. In the summer it would have been a pleasant sight but now in the very beginnings of winter it wasn’t pretty. The grassy area was just dirt covered with a thin stubble of grass and rocks, and the sunlight coming down over the tall walls was almost grey-tinged and sterile. Jungkook saw four bodies out there and all of them were tributes. He saw ill-fitting cheap suits that made him want to grimace, wrinkled shirts and worn leather shoes. Mostly he saw puffy faces that signaled hangovers or come downs and it annoyed him immensely. This was Mapo-gu’s idea of new recruits? Chubby, pug-faced, gangly young men without even the knowledge on how to look good. No self-respecting member of Haedogje Pa would be caught dead in a suit like that. Why they wouldn’t even be murdered in one and-

Jungkook’s gaze had been focused on one rather obnoxious-looking man who had been chewing gum almost loud enough for him to hear it through the closed windows. However after a few seconds someone shifted and he realised that there was actually five bodies out there; five to match up with the number of associates that had given him men of course. He was more than certain that it was indeed Ahn that had neglected to give new blood because upon entering the meeting Jungkook had been sure to make a remark about the bright new tributes. He had seen Ahn’s gaze dropping to look at the table whereas the rest had laughed in agreement. The newly revealed recruit had one arm hugged to his chest to keep his hand warm and the other up in front of his face so that he could smoke a cigarette. He could only study his profile from his standing position and so Jungkook did so.

His breath and the smoke mingled together to create a thick plume in the air and Jungkook watched him breathe a lungful out of his mouth. When he breathed in again he pulled most of the smoke into his lungs, wispy tendrils escaping his nose on the next exhale. Jungkook saw a head of dark hair that was a little too long and yet seemed to flatter his face regardless. It was hard to see the rest of his face but he could see a strong nose with a straight bridge and a rounded tip rather than a point. The man was wearing a suit but unlike the rest it was much better fitted to his frame; no creases or loose knees and shoulders. It was black and looked to be fine grey pinstripe from what he could see, and judging from the collar visible from his jacket he was wearing a white shirt with it. Was there a tie perhaps? He couldn’t see and yet he found himself very much wanting to know.

The meeting was still going on right now, he could hear Nam talking about a recent crackdown in the district to arrest pimps and yet he wasn’t listening to him. The words were floating up in the air rather than going into his head. Jungkook had suddenly found something so much more interesting than the boring bullshit his men were talking about, and it was the young stranger outside that had grabbed his attention.

The man turned around slightly as he reached up to stick the cigarette back between his lips. His hand obscured his face for a second but when he lowered it Jungkook finally got to see his features clearly. From their distance he saw large eyes and a mouth that his gaze locked onto. He pouted his lips slightly as he blew the smoke out and Jungkook felt the most pressing urge to wet his own lips. The young man shivered and huddled his crossed arm closer to his chest, as if that would make him feel better.

“…Master Jeon?”

Jungkook heard Woo’s voice and he realised that he really hadn’t been paying attention to what had been going on. When he looked away from the window he saw eyes on him and yet…he didn’t exactly have an answer to whatever he was supposed to be addressing. That meant he had three seconds or so to react before he looked incompetent, but luckily Jungkook had always been blessed with good reactions.

“What I want to know is this, Nam: are you still on profit right now?”

“Yes, Master Jeon, always on profit.”

“Then fuck the rest of it, if there’s issues with the police force you know what to do. Lodge a strong complaint to my father and I’ll see to it that the person responsible for the crackdowns gets several cracked ribs. That should remind them who’s really in charge of the district.”

“Thank you, Master Jeon I’ll be sure to do so,” Nam said from behind his sunglasses. Jungkook briefly wondered if he fucked his women in them before pushing the thought away.

“Master Jeon?” Park said suddenly, fixing his glasses as he did. “I too have a rather important complaint to lodge regarding-”

“Out, everyone out,” Jungkook almost snapped as he waved an arm. “Go for a smoke or a piss, whatever, just get out of my sight.” He could sense that this was not what happened in meetings for them, that they were all surprised by this sudden change in events. Jungkook had been to enough meetings himself to know that this certainly didn’t happen, but today was a first for everything it would seem. It took a few seconds for the men to comply to his demand and then he heard the slight scraping sounds of their chairs on the wooden flooring. As soon as the meeting room was empty Woo asked him what he was doing. Jungkook got out of his own seat and wandered over to the windows. “Who’s that man over there; the one in the pinstripe suit?” He turned to look over his shoulder at the other man. Woo got out of his own chair by the doors and moved to stand a few feet away.

“He would be a tribute, Master Jeon. I’m yet to have any information on the recruits seen as they aren’t all going to be accepted. But I’m sure that I could-”

“I like him,” Jungkook spoke over him, turning back to the window to look at the young man out in the courtyard. He was still smoking and dithering from the cold.

“What…what do you mean you like him?”

“He’s pretty,” Jungkook explained as he slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. “He’s pretty so I like him, it’s rather simple, Woo. The rest of them are pretty hideous.”

“The tributes aren’t supposed to be attractive, Master Jeon,” Woo said in a rather flat tone. It was enough to make Jungkook roll his eyes with a weary sigh.

“I’m aware of that, Woo, look at most of the men in this meeting. I know they’re not supposed to be but it’s a pleasant surprise.” He studied the man outside. “Not even a name?”

“No, Master Jeon, I don’t have a name.”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to ask him myself,” he said before turning on his heel and crossing the meeting room. Woo made disgruntled noises at this but he didn’t even try and stop him. “Talk to Park and make note of his complaint.”

Jungkook stepped out the room and into the hallway to see that most of the men were in fact just standing around the door. They were no doubt waiting for him to call them back, not wanting to be late or risk their necks. He saw a few smouldering cigarettes and cigars and even a hip flask out in Kim’s hand. Jungkook walked down the hallway to get to the door, shoving it open to step outside. Just like earlier he was hit by the plummet in temperature and it was enough to make him take an involuntary gasping breath. He felt a shiver run down his spine and yet he couldn’t fold his arms over his chest to try and reserve heat. That would look weak and he didn’t want that. Even if it was a natural reaction to the cold he didn’t want it. Most of the new bloods were likely older than him, and if they saw him as weaker then it would not do. So instead he kept his hands in his trouser pockets as he crossed the courtyard to get closer to the gathering of new recruits.

Jungkook was used to heads turning to stare at him when he was around Haedogje Pa men. It was only natural that they did, because shortly afterwards heads would drop to stare at shoes respectfully. No one made intentional eye-contact with him, or at least not for longer than a second or so. But not the young man he had noticed from the window. No, he just stared at him openly. It was hard to tell if it was from fear, shock or something else. As he got closer he saw that his skin was tanned against his white shirt collar, just like Jimin’s skin looked against silken bed sheets. His cheeks were slightly red from the cold in a wonderfully flushed way and when he stopped in front of him that was when the man dropped his gaze.

“What’s your name, mmm?” Jungkook asked, making sure to use a strong but polite tone. “How old are you?”

“Kuh-Kim Taehyung, Master Jeon.” Master Jeon, yes Jungkook liked hearing that a lot coming from those lips of his. Full and pouted, the upper slightly more so than the lower. His voice was nice to listen to too, deep but not dull or droning. It had a warm note to it. “I’m twenty.”

“Kim Taehyung, mmm.” Jungkook moved his tongue around his mouth as if tasting it and he spared a glance over at the other recruits to see that they were all staring at him. “Who do you work for, Taehyung?”

“Luh-Lim, Master Jeon.”

“Lim? Don’t know him, who does Lim work for?” Jungkook asked as reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, just below the elbow. Taehyung flinched at the sudden physical contact and muffled a shocked noise by biting down on his lip. Yet all Jungkook had wanted was to lean down and take a drag off the end of his cigarette. It had been wasting away between his fingers, ignored and neglected since his arrival. It had been awhile since he had shared a cigarette and so the lungful of smoke burnt as he held it and then breathed it out. Taehyung inhaled and Jungkook saw some of the smoke being pulled into his lungs too.

“He works property, Master Jeon,” Taehyung explained, voice no longer quivering from the cold. Jungkook could hardly feel it right now too. “But also handles lawsuits and judicial matters should they arise.”

“So you…you specialise in business then too, right?”

“No, Master Jeon,” Taehyung explained, eyes flickering up to his face as he did. “I work mostly in…in keeping his affairs in order.”

“Brains or brawn?” Jungkook asked, his own gaze moving down to study him as he did. He was aware that he was in fact taller than him. Only slightly but still taller. A glance down at his feet showed that there was the slightest heel on the back, just like his. It wasn’t a trick then, he must have been taller. Nice proportions, slim but not too thin. There might just be muscle under that shirt. He lifted his gaze back to study his face.

“Brains,” Taehyung explained. Jungkook saw that his eyes were large and rounded, framed with a thick spray of lashes that would be the envy of many women. It was hard figuring out what feature deserved the most attention, his eyes or his nose, or those lips of his.

“Are you a nerd, Taehyung?” Jungkook joked, offering him a smile as he did. This caused the young man to bark a sudden laugh at him, deep and pleasant sounding. When his lips shifted they revealed straight teeth, both rows. Now he knew what feature of his was the one deserving attention by a long shot. “So you know who’s who, yes?”

“Yeah, Master Jeon,” Taehyung agreed, a little confident now in his presence. “I know quite a lot,” he added as he took a drag off his cigarette.

“Anyone shown an interest in you yet?”

“Yeah uh, Nam, Master Jeon.”

“Nam?” He raised an eyebrow at this and then scoffed. “Nam’s not getting his hands on you.”

The courtyard fell silent for a moment and Jungkook almost relished it. He could see that Taehyung was looking at him in mild confusion. Was he trying to ascertain if his words meant that he was out for good, or was he wondering about the strong undertone of his wording? He didn’t know but he did know that Nam really wasn’t getting his hands on him. No way was a skin dealer dragging him under his wing and turning him into just another shit for brains pimp. Or a slave. Taehyung seemed to have a talent, a talent that he found greatly interested him. He kept affairs in order, he knew who was who. He was like Woo except still a rookie, but if he were to show him the ropes…

“Shit,” Taehyung said suddenly, breaking the silence as he did, “it’s freezing uh, I mean-”

“It’s freezing,” Jungkook agreed with a nod as he watched Taehyung drop his rather terribly shaking arms down to his sides. “You know, it’s a lot warmer inside. You should join me in my meeting. You will get to stay out of the cold and see what real Haedogje Pa business looks like.” Taehyung’s expression had been something as close to neutral as he had been able to achieve because of the cold. His lips had still twitched slightly at the corners, as had his brow. But upon hearing his words Taehyung’s expression suddenly turned into something close to dumbstruck instead. His mouth fell open in an “o”, showcasing his teeth and wet pink tongue. Jungkook couldn’t help but drop his gaze to study this before looking back up at his eyes. Clearly he had not expected this and his suggestion had surprised him.

“I’m sorry, Master Jeon, I don’t-”

“Come on,” Jungkook repeated, this time in a stern tone rather than a friendly. He wanted him to know that it hadn’t been a suggestion, it had been an order. “Join me in the meeting.”

“Uh…OK, thank you for the honour, Master Jeon.” Taehyung went to drop the cigarette and so he grabbed his arm again, this time closer to his wrist. Jungkook took the nearly used up cigarette out of his fingers. His father didn’t approve of smoking, called it a dirty habit. He made sure to never smoke often enough to crave them just to please the man. If only he knew about his other dirty habits: like the certain porn star he had had holed up in his penthouse suite for three months now; like the lines of coke snorted from the cleft of his spine and the taste of another man’s cum on his tongue.

Well, perfection was hard to achieve. His father would have to settle for as close as he could get.

Jungkook took a deep drag off it as he walked across the courtyard. He didn’t let go of his wrist but rather gently pulled him along behind him. Taehyung allowed him to do so, no attempt at resistance whatsoever. It didn’t matter if he did because he would have dragged him across the courtyard anyway. The man’s wrist was warm against his palm and he could feel something like the cold hard sensation of a metal wristwatch against the side of his hand. When he reentered the building he felt quite a few pairs of eyes on them both, more so Taehyung. Jungkook tried to locate Nam and after a few seconds he saw him down the hallway. The man might have been glaring at him from behind his shades, it was hard to tell but he did know that he was certainly taken aback by the sight. He was hoping that he had given out a nice clear message however. Just like he had with Jimin.

Hands off, this one is mine.

Jungkook guided him along the hallway and into the meeting room. He saw Woo hastily typing on his phone just beside the window and at their arrival he looked up. There was a chair on the far end of the table that was currently unoccupied and so Jungkook let go of his wrist to collect it and carry it over to go beside his chair. Taehyung watched him do this rather dumbly.

“Woo, let them know the meeting can continue,” Jungkook said as he gestured to the chair. As Woo crossed the room to step outside Taehyung finally seemed to realise what he was supposed to do and he moved to sit in the seat beside him. “Did…Lim, yes Lim, did he ever take you meetings before?”

“Yeah, Master Jeon,” Taehyung confirmed as he looked up and down the table at the files. Jungkook noted how he said “yeah” as opposed to “yes” and found that it was a surprisingly refreshing thing to hear. Much more to the point, less rigidly formal. “Lim allowed me to be a witness in several meetings.”

“Normal meetings, right?” Jungkook watched Woo step into the corridor. “This one will be far from normal.” Taehyung turned his head to stare at him, expression hard to read and that was when the other men filed back into the meeting room. Jungkook fell silent and waited for them to all be seated whilst Woo closed the doors and sealed them back in again. The scent of cigarettes and cigars, whiskey and cologne wafted across the room. When Woo was also back in his seat and the room was still and silent he decided to open his mouth again. “OK, I’m sure that there are some other things left to be discussed for this meeting but I want to cut to the chase.” Jungkook stubbed the cigarette down hard on the table. “Is there anything of importance that anyone has to say before I do?”

Jungkook looked over the men and waited, counting the seconds in his head as he did. He was waiting for one of two men to make a move and admit something to him; for Do to blurt out about his spending in some last ditch attempt to save his ass from the cutting board; for Ahn to admit to his error of not submitting a tribute to Haedogje Pa like he was supposed to. Yet neither of them moved, didn’t even blink at him. He waited for ten seconds to pass before speaking again.

“By important I don’t mean in relations to business, legal matters, shit like that I mean important.” Jungkook shifted to fold his elbows on the table as he looked up and down the table. Another ten seconds passed. “Nobody has anything to say to me? At all?” He turned his head to look over at Woo and left five seconds of silence before sighing. “OK, well there are actually two important matters to address in this meeting and yet neither man decided to own up to it. I must say I’m disappointed. I didn’t know Haedogje Pa hired pussies but apparently we do.”

Jungkook took a deep breath and held it whilst he sorted his thoughts out. He had to be clear and precise, cutting and cold. No bumbling, no empathy, just the harsh truth. That meant knowing exactly what to say and not fucking up. When he was ready a few seconds later he exhaled and locked eyes right on Do. The man was sitting there trying to act innocent and clean but he knew otherwise. He saw the truth at the corners of his lips and when he opened his mouth and started speaking his face would likely turn the same shade of grey as the hair around his temples and his suit.

“Do, I do not appreciate our women being murdered and mutilated,” Jungkook said as he sat back in his seat. He could have stayed forward, elbows on the table to look more stern but that wasn’t how he wanted to appear. No, seated back in his chair made him seem unaffected with it all. That was more frightening. “You killed three of our women. That’s a loss in profit. Somewhere across Mapo-gu a pimp is making less cash and his superior is making less cash and- you see where this is going, right?” He raised an eyebrow at him and Do remained still and silent. “Haedogje Pa is losing cash because you murdered three women to satisfy a rather fucked up kink, I must say and yet- yet, after all of that you’re still losing us profit.”

“Master Jeon, I-”

“Don’t say my name, you piece of shit,” Jungkook spat, voice venomous but not a shout. In the seat beside him he could see Taehyung staring at him openly with his mouth open and even wider eyes. “Don’t even look at me I don’t want you to have that honour.” Do dropped his eyes to the table instead. “Ahn?”

“Yes,Master Jeon?”

“You’re the stupid asshole that didn’t give us a tribute,” Jungkook continued, spinning his chair to glare at him as he did. “Stand up.” Ahn moved slowly but he did as he commanded, pushing his chair out so that he could stand with his hands folded neatly in front of his gut. “Do you swear utmost allegiance to Haedogje Pa?”

“Yes, Master Jeon, the utmost.”

“Do you regret fucking up and not giving a tribute?”

“Yes, Master Jeon, I admit that I fucked up.” He asked him why. “There was an issue with profits for this month, Master Jeon. In my efforts to increase them to a standard level I was unable to select a fitting tribute. I didn’t want to send a useless one so I sent none at all. I deeply regret fucking up, Master Jeon.”

“You know what, Ahn? I believe you,” Jungkook said as he studied the man. “I believe that this was an honest mistake and I’ll accept it as so. But I can’t let this slide, you understand that don’t you, Ahn?”

“Yes, Master Jeon.”

“See now…now I have two situations on my hands,” he explained as he swept both arms up, empathising this fact. The meeting room was a stage after all, and he was just performing his part to perfection. “I have a man that killed our women and caused substantial losses to profit across the whole of Mapo-gu as a result; and I have a man that must show loyalty to my family.” Jungkook glanced across the table to see that not a single pair of eye weren’t looking at him right now. He had them all arrested, like a true heir should. “What should I do? Taehyung, what should I do?”

“Muh…me?” Taehyung’s twisted his head so sharply he had likely cricked a muscle in his neck. His already round eyes were considerably larger and he looked like he had been caught jerking off into his own sister’s panties.

“Yes you, what should I do?”

“The uh,” Taehyung wet his lips with the tip of his tongue; showcasing a quick flash of slick pink flesh, “the punishment for Duh-Do’s actions, from the loss of profit to the spending of Haedogje Pa earnings is…is death, Master Jeon.”

“Yes, that’s one solution to my problem but what about the other?”

“A…a true sign of loyalty to a brother is to…to kill for a brother,” Taehyung said in a whisper soft voice.

“Well done, that’s just what I was thinking. Grab him,” Jungkook ordered and both Lee and Kim shifted to seize hold of Do. They moved fast, perfectly trained to respond to his requests. “Ahn, come here.” He lifted a finger and wagged it and the other man came to stand behind him, between him and Taehyung. Then Ahn bowed forward respectfully so that they would be on eye level. “You would do anything to show that you’re loyal to Haedogje Pa, correct?” The man confirmed that it was so, voice hard to hear under the indignant and rather pathetic complaints from Do. “You want me to know that I can trust you, that you’re a good man, correct?”

“Yes, Master Jeon, I’m loyal to your father and you.”

“Kill Do for me.”

“…How should I kill him, Master Jeon?”

“Hmm, remove his trousers and underwear. Gag him with them and strangle him. Just like he did to our women.” Jungkook reached up to pat Ahn on the shoulder and the man confirmed that he would before moving across the room. Lee and Kim had already dragged Do away from the table and the man was struggling to free himself from their grips. A quick glance at Taehyung showed that he was considerably paler than he had been earlier. The young man was staring across the room with an expression that looked trapped between bewilderment and something like fear.

“I didn’t mean to do it, Master Jeon, it was an accident and-”

“Once is a fucking accident, Do, not three times in a night,” Jungkook retorted as he twisted in his seat. “Three fucking times, you useless cunt. Do you think I’m stupid, Do? Do you think I don’t know all of your fucked up secrets?”

“I don’t, I don’t! I won’t do it again, I swear that I won’t I’ll-”

“Do, to put it nice and simple for you: I don’t believe a word of your bullshit. Hurry up and gag him I’m sick of hearing that voice. Gets under my skin like fucking coke bugs.”

Do put up a fight, or as good a fight that he could anyway all things considered. With his arms pinned at his sides he could only twist and worm and wriggle, or kick. And he did kick Ahn, several times in fact. Perhaps the dumb fuck hadn’t figured it out but kicking the man that was going to strangle him to death was never a good idea. It would just piss him off more. When his trousers and underwear were wrenched down Jungkook was certain that he heard Taehyung making a sound beside him, a breathless wheeze. Ahn got him free of them and then came the gagging. Jungkook was thankful for it for it stopped him from yelling and instead reduced him to rather muted nonsense. Perhaps sensing that this was something that needed to be witnessed Lee and Kim dragged Do back over and forced him down onto the table, on his back. The sound of his head thumping off the polished wood made Taehyung flinch. Then Ahn was leaning over to seize hold of his throat with both hands.

Jungkook had never strangled a person to death before, only lightly for pleasure. He had felt the soft flesh under his thumbs when he had dug them down until the rather hard resistance of the windpipe got in the way. He had experienced that wonderful racing pulse against the palms of his hands and heard the gags that turned into wet gasps as soon as he relented and let a little air be drawn in. But Ahn didn’t strangle Do for pleasure, he did so to kill him. The man was brutal and unrelenting, not even showing any emotion as he throttled the other man. Not even when his pitiful gagging stopped and his face started to go a lovely shade of red, and then with rather livid undertones of purple around his lips and eyes. Jungkook turned his head to look at Taehyung and he saw that the rookie had his hands held up against the sides of his head. He wasn’t looking over at Do but rather at the table and he looked very much like he was seconds from collapsing.

“Don’t look away,” Jungkook ordered. “Look.” Taehyung seemed like he might just disobey that order, head still turned away from Do. But then his eyes slid sideways to look and Jungkook suddenly found himself more interested in watching him watch the strangulation that the act itself. “Do you see this, Taehyung?”

“Yuh-yeah, Master Jeon.”

“This is what happens when you go against Haedogje Pa. If you piss us off, if you try to hurt us, if you cause any trouble. This is what happens. You’re not going to do anything like that, are you?”

“Nuh-no, Master Jeon, never.”

“Good.”

Ahn kept his hands clamped onto the other man’s throat until Do had stopped moving and he held them there until Jungkook requested that Kim check for a pulse. The man checked his wrist and then his chest before confirming that he was indeed dead. Then Ahn let go of his throat and reached up to his own to fix his tie. Do was lying on the table, arms spread out from where Lee and Kim had held them down. His shirt had ridden up and he could see his thighs and genitals. Well, they had been the main cause of this rather avoidable fiasco. Seeing them now he hardly thought they were worth the trouble.

Jungkook reached over to put his hand on Taehyung’s knee without much thought. What he felt was that it was shaking under his palm, muscles thrumming under his skin. Clearly this had been his first witness to a murder, which made sense considering his background working for a property shark. But Taehyung was going to have to get used to the sight very quickly. He studied the back of his hand before lifting his gaze up slowly to study Taehyung’s face. Still that pale shade, rather ashen right now. There looked to be a light sheen of sweat on his brow and he was just staring at the body still lying on the table.

Notes:

Random note: I haven't spelled "Lieutenant" wrong in this chapter but rather used the British term "Leftenant" because I'm British haha

Chapter Text

There was a burger in one hand and a disposable phone in the other. Taehyung was holding them in front of himself as if weighing them, considering his current options. Right now he had to do one or the other, and he was torn between choosing which. Seated on the sidewalk, legs cocked up in front of him so that his suit trousers had hitched up to show his ankles, he could feel that he was attracting a lot of attention. It was certainly warranted but he couldn’t sit inside the food joint because it was too risky. Too many chances of being overheard. That might just be paranoia kicking in, he didn’t know. All he did know was that it had been just a day and he couldn’t risk fucking up already. Being caught blabbering to the department with grease all over his mouth whilst a dealer sat two tables away staring right at him; Taehyung knew that if anyone would fuck up such an elementary mistake it would be him. That was why he was sitting on the curb beside the gutter like a destitute being stared at by everyone that went past.

After leaving the meeting yesterday he had been ordered into a small room for the time being. That was where he was to stay until further notice, the building fulfilling its true purpose as a boarding house. The room had been nothing more than that of a shitty motel room but he hadn’t cared at all. It had been somewhere to hide away for the rest of the day, to get his mind sorted and to figure out a plan of sorts. The first thing that he had done when he had left the building this morning had been to hit the unfamiliar streets of Mapo-gu. He had needed to locate two things, a convenience store and a fast food joint. He had needed to get his hand on a cheap disposable phone, a throwaway that could be used once and tossed like a condom. The costs of said phones would be covered by the department but they hardly cost a thing. So he had bought one and had went to get some food, and now it was time to for the plan to kick into action.

Yet Taehyung was too scared to do so, too paranoid. There was shit that he had to report but he didn’t know what to say, how to say it.

Taehyung lowered the phone onto his lap for a moment before unwrapping the burger so that he could take a bite. It was so hot in his mouth that it burnt and he tasted salty and fried meat on his tongue. He didn’t even think about having a nutritious breakfast right now. What he wanted wasn’t healthy and pleasing, but rather hot and and packed with enough sugars and fat to make him feel full. What better choice at hand than a fried slab of meat slathered in cheese and sauces and salad; a veritable walking coronary? The kind of meal that Namjoon would tell him would clog his arteries if he just sat behind a desk all day. But he didn’t care about that shit right now. After spending the entire afternoon and evening hours of yesterday too nervous to possibly eat his stomach was hollow and aching under his ribs. It had been too hard to eat when all he had been able to think about was what had happened in the meeting. Just the thought had been enough to make his stomach jittery, feel all loose and slippery as if it would slide all the way up into mouth.

Fuck health, he was living on borrowed time right now. If he was going to fuck up and be strangled to death then he thought that a single cheeseburger for breakfast meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

He had vomited several times yesterday even when his stomach had been empty, bringing up nothing more than burning and foul-tasting bile that made his eyes and nose sting. As a result Taehyung had woken up on the bathroom floor this morning, cold with an aching head and stomach. His hair had been sweat-clumped and his shirt had been damp, clinging to his skin disgustingly. Cleaning up in the small shower cubicle had been a blessing, even when it had meant the heat had made him feel woozy and weak. Then he had gotten dressed from the small holdall bag that Lim had suggested he should bring with him. Taehyung wasn’t stupid. He knew that the bag had been searched thoroughly whilst he had been made to stand out in the courtyard like cattle at an auction. It would have been checked for anything that could become a weapon, that could be a sign that he wasn’t who he had said that he was. Whoever would have checked would have found nothing more than pressed shirts and trousers, rolled up bundles of socks and underwear, and a small ziplock bag of toiletries. Taehyung didn’t know how long he was supposed to stay in this boarding house for, with the rest of the recruits. All he knew was that he was here to stay unless someone took an interest and pulled him out.

Someone like Jungkook perhaps?

Even now, nearly an entire day since it had happened, he couldn’t believe what had happened in the courtyard. He couldn’t believe that The Boy had walked right up to him and had spoken to him like it was nothing; a rather hard to read sensation coming from him. Taehyung couldn’t ascertain if it was faux friendliness like he used on every lackey to turn them into his slaves or if it was something else. Hadn’t his attention seemed a little…strong, maybe even eager? Taehyung didn’t want to assume that it was but he very much looked back on the encounter and felt like it was borderline flirting. The thought was enough to make him squirm on the sidewalk. The Boy flirting with him? No, he was just reading things wrong of course. Jungkook had merely been trying to charm him under his sway, like he had likely done to most of the men in the meeting yesterday. But still…the way his gaze had lingered on him; his lips, down his body, it had felt very much like Jungkook had been eyeing him up rather than sizing him up. As if he had been mentally undressing him.

The way that he had placed his hand on his knee and had smiled at him whilst Do had lain dead on the table a few feet away...

Taehyung stopped in the midst of chewing, the mixture of fried bread and burger suddenly too thick, too greasy on his tongue. His stomach did another one of those hard lurches and he closed his eyes and tried his hardest to suppress it. He had to stop vomiting and shaking of else he was never going to make it. What kind of Haedogje Pa man acted like this? If he didn’t toughen up soon he was going to get removed from the recruit lineup, he just knew that he would. All of their hard work would come to nothing because was too chickenshit to handle it. Namjoon had been through shit too, he had told him that he had. He had probably seen worse, hell the man had been fucking stabbed at some point in his operation. So that meant that he needed to try harder.

But the sight of Do’s face turning a livid shade of red, the guttural gagging sounds that he had made, that was something that Taehyung wasn’t going to forget for a very long time. Possibly forever. It would keep him awake at night like Namjoon’s past did, and he would hear those sounds whenever silence fell.

After a few horrible seconds of wait his stomach finally settled down again, all thoughts of Do shoved back into the dark recesses of his mind. He swallowed the mouthful of food and opened his eyes to look at the opposite sidewalk. Taehyung was more than aware of the fact that he was attracting some attention. Of course passing pedestrians were going to look at him, the man in the fitted suit sitting on the sidewalk. The one with a paper bag of fast food beside him, burger in one hand and phone in the other. Taehyung knew he himself would stare at a sight like that if he were to pass it on a street, it would be too hard to ignore. That meant that he couldn’t sit here all day; he had to get his ass in gear.

Taehyung took another bite out of the burger as he hit the call button and rapidly dialed the number that Namjoon had forced him to remember. Not the department number, not even a personal number. No, his fellow officer also had a disposable on him for this very purpose. One that wasn’t changed but rather tapped to record every piece of dialogue they had. He lifted the phone to his ear, chewing the mouthful as he ran his eyes along the sidewalk. It took perhaps three seconds of wait before there was a static burst on the line and he swallowed hard.

“Speak to me.” Namjoon’s tone was brusque but not rude. Direct. He wanted answers and he knew that neither of them had a great amount of time to speak. So that meant that Taehyung had to be precise too.

“I’m in,” he replied, watching a car lazily roll down the street in front of him.

“You’re in? Talk to me, Taehyung. Give me facts here.”

“I mean I’m Haedogje Pa. Nam wanted me, he wanted me under his orders pretty badly but he didn’t get his way thank fuck. No, I think I’ve got a new owner now.”

“Who?”

“The Boy.”

“The…shit, Taehyung, I need you to repeat that one more time. Did you just say The Boy?” He confirmed it with a soft noise and a nod, even when his fellow officer couldn’t see it. Taehyung could almost feel the man’s thoughts racing at this, as he tried to process it all. “The Boy picked you to…to what, be his own lackey?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he picked me. Look, Namjoon, I know how crazy it sounds, I can hardly fucking believe it myself. I was standing out in some fucking courtyard freezing my ass off and I heard all kinds of mumbling and when I turned my head there he was.”

Taehyung paused for a moment to try and sort his words out before continuing. He couldn’t really explain the feeling that he had felt seeing Jungkook standing so close to him. Breathing the same air, looking right at him and no longer just a photograph. Almost his height and not at all giving off the same presence that he had felt upon studying the shots that day on the office, Jungkook had had a weight to his presence, an almost detectable energy coming off him in waves. Cold waves, as icy as the winter chill had been. But that smirk on his face had not been cold, not at all. No it had been warm, hot even. Welcoming. Coupled with the glint in his eyes it had been something even more but Taehyung wasn’t thinking about that right now.

“He came up to me, asked a couple of questions about me. Didn’t know Lim, didn’t seem to care.”

“We must have blindsided him with Lim. He’s important enough to have got you in, but not enough to be known by the big boys.”

“I dunno why The Boy picked me outta the recruits. I wasn’t the tough guy. I was smoking and shivering yet he picked me. When he asked about his men taking an interest in me I told him about Nam and he…he looked displeased and said that Nam couldn’t have me.”

“Signs of possible discontent?” Namjoon asked, pen nib scratching against paper down the line. Taehyung explained that he didn’t think so, that Jungkook had shown more hostility towards other men. “OK, report if there’s any changes. Continue.”

“One minute I was out in the cold freezing to death and the next I was sitting in some meeting with local heads it was…shit, Namjoon, it was fucking terrifying. He straight up had a man murdered in front of me: Do Seunghoon. Guy owned shitty night clubs flooded with drugs from Park Myungsoo. Had previous convictions for assault and attempted rape. He’s off our hands now permanently.”

“I know that it will be terrifying but you’re talking to me right now. That means you’re doing great, Taehyung. I told you you were made for this, didn’t I?”

“Christ, Namjoon, barely. I don’t even know how I’m still talking to you. I thought I was gonna drop dead right there in the middle of the meeting. The Boy he’s-” Taehyung stopped talking, biting down on his lower lip as he did. What exactly was he trying to say to Namjoon? He himself wasn’t even aware. He was…intimidating? He was…a psychopath? He was…flirtatious? After a few seconds of silence he settled on a word of choice. “He’s fucking ruthless. All I’ve got to report right now is that there’s a purge going on, just like you said. The Boy’s meeting beneficiaries of Jeon’s empire and if he decides that they’re not loyal enough he’s fixing ‘em up. Sanctions mostly, but he’s pitting ‘em against one another too. He wants to separate the chaff from the wheat.”

“In his favour or Jeon’s favour?”

“Right now? Looks to be a bit of both. Most of Jeon’s loyalest men are allied to him too, but time will show if they’re true. Local dealers and shit mightn’t seem like the most important thing right now but The Boy’s smart. He knows if the masses are his then the masters are too. His closest can’t order their own men around if said men are already at the whim of him.”

“Explain that a little more clearly for me, Taehyung. You know you know this shit better than the rest of us.”

“It’s, uh, think of it like an army,” Taehyung explained, shifting on the curb as he did. His ass had went rather numb from the cold hard concrete. “A fascist army. At the top, the dictator, that’s Jeon. His heir to the throne is The Boy. Now below ‘em is the second seat of power. That’s Jeon’s men, the generals. One or two for each district. The generals have leftenants. That’s men like Nam, like Lim, those kinda men. The leftenants control the army of pimps and dealers and all the other crooks out of the streets. Men like me.”

“Right, I’m following.”

“If The Boy controls the leftenants, he controls the armies. He takes over the generals, they don’t mean shit anymore. Right now Jeon’s men are losing their own followers, and only the ones that The Boy trusts will get ‘em back. The ones he doesn’t…they get cut out permanently.”

“A systematic purge, The Boy’s really cleaning up. Smart maybe, but I doubt that the transition will be a smooth one,” Namjoon said, and down the line Taehyung heard more pen scratching. “The Boy’s playing a risky game.”

“He’s the king on the board right now. He might only have a small share but he’s amassing more power.”

“I didn’t peg you as a chess player, Taehyung.”

“Blame my father, or thank him perhaps,” Taehyung retorted as he looked down the street. “Hey, I’m gonna go back into the fray yeah? I’ll call you when I get information. I can’t risk daily calls, even with disposables. Not yet anyway, maybe after I’ve gained trust I can but I can’t take too many chances.”

“If you can’t call remember. Cyber cafés. Use the address we gave you and delete the cache after use.”

“Stay safe, brother. We’ll keep an eye on the streets, you concentrate on staying alive and undercover.”

Taehyung ended the call and he let out his pent-up breath as he lowered the phone. He stared at the screen, the small green rectangle set into the chunk of black plastic. It was an ugly cheap device but it would do the job fine, just like the countless other phones he would need to buy. He took another bite out of the burger, almost finished now, and tried to figure out what happened next. Well, he guessed that he needed to go back to the boarding house now. That would be a smart idea because he didn’t want to be gone too long. He didn’t know who would show or when. What if he was sitting around like an idiot on a street corner and The Boy showed up? That would ruin his chances of getting his attention, which he knew he was very much going to have to do. Granted, the first time had been an accident but he was aiming to make it purposeful for the future. Whatever reason Jungkook had had an interest in him for, Taehyung needed to take advantage of. It would greatly help him ease his way into Haedogje Pa if the heir wanted him by his side.

Taehyung shoved the last chunk of burger into his mouth as he got to his feet, tossing the rolled up wrapper into the nearby trash can. The paper bag still contained fries and he had the remains of most of his coffee too. It seemed a waste to throw them and he wondered if the actual destitute he had passed earlier was still there. It was enough to make him want to check, so he retrieved the bag and coffee container and started walking along the street. He shoved the phone into his trouser pocket for a moment. He knew exactly where to expose of that.

It was just as he reached the street corner that he was hit by a thought, a rather unsettling one at that.

What if Jungkook wanted him in another way? What if it wasn’t about lackeys? What if Jungkook wanted to…to fuck him? Taehyung’s fingers tightened around the paper bag in something close to a tight fist. How would he be able to tell him no? Should he tell him no? Namjoon had told him that he would have to go through bad shit to survive; did that also include becoming a fuck toy? Taehyung didn’t know if it did but it sound right. Wasn’t it better to just get on his knees for the young heir if it would aid him in infiltration? It was a rather simple thing to have to deal with. Not like Namjoon and his knife scar. Another thought passed his mind abruptly, so sudden that he couldn’t hope to suppress it.

Was it even bad shit? Was letting Jungkook fuck him something that could even be classified as bad shit?

Taehyung gnawed on his inner lip as he turned to go onto the street. That wasn’t something that he was going to think about. In fact he should stop thinking about such a thing happening anyway. All he should think about was how to keep a low profile and stay safe whilst also making the right connections. Until he next saw Jungkook he shouldn’t even think about him. The heir was likely halfway across the capital right now, out of sight and out of mind.

It was a few streets down that he found the homeless man. He was sitting where he had been this morning, having not moved once since he had passed him earlier. In the early winter chill he was going to freeze to death, the thin rag of a blanket not at all keeping him warm. Taehyung slowed his pace down as he got closer to him, suddenly wondering if this was a good idea. Something at the back of his mind said that he might just shame the man by offering some assistance. The pedestrians would stare at him, would no doubt think cruel thoughts. But then Taehyung remembered Do. That was what made him finally stop in front of the man.

“It’s not much but uh…” Taehyung wet his lips awkwardly as he placed the bag and coffee container down. He avoided the man’s eyes as he did this and reached up to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly. Then he recalled the money in his jacket pocket. The leftover change. So he stuck his hand in his pocket and dropped the coins in the small tin container by the man’s knee. “Help a brother out, y’know?”

“God bless you, son,” the man said and Taehyung lifted his eyes to look at him for a moment. It was hard to tell his age when he had been so weather beaten and aged from life on the streets. He could have been his father’s age, maybe his grandfather’s. Either way his black hair was mostly grey in parts now and his ruddy skin was lined like a map, an expanse of wrinkles and folds that would never iron out. His lips lifted to reveal quite a few missing teeth. The sight should have ruined his smile but Taehyung found it a hell of a lot more friendlier and pleasant to look at over the fake perfect teeth of mobsters.

He wondered what the man and God would think knowing what he was doing right now. Joining Haedogje Pa, ready to do bad shit in order to do some good for the city. He wondered if the man knew that the only reason he had done this was because he felt guilty for Do’s death yesterday. He might not have strangled him to death with his own hands but he still felt like he had his own part in it all, and the guilt that came with it. But he didn’t say any of that of course. No, he just smiled his own perfectly rehearsed fake smile at the man instead.

After all, he was going to need to get used to the sensation on his face very quickly.

“Muh…Master that feels so fucking good.”

Jungkook rocked his hips forward a little harder, slipping deeper inside of him. Jimin was so hot and wet around his cock from a mixture of lube and spilled cum that every single thrust caused a slow burn deep in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t help but balance his weight on one hand so that he could reach up to fiddle with the slight overhang of metal that was currently between his shoulder blades. Nothing more than a slight inch or so but enough to play with. As he fingered the chain his other fingers curled up to seize hold of the bed sheets.

“How good, Doll?”

After three glasses of champagne and the other man climbing onto his lap to nuzzle against him it was no surprise that it had evolved into this so quickly. Usually it took some time, some teasing and playing around but not tonight. No, Jungkook had been in the penthouse suite for less than half an hour now and already his suit was cast across the room. His shirt was on the leather chaise lounge to his knowledge, his trousers bunched up somewhere on the floor. There were no underwear. Jungkook had very little need for underwear, it just got in the way.

How could he have possibly resisted Jimin? When he had walked inside the suite the other man had already been lounged across the glass top table, bottle of champagne already open in preparation for him in an ice bucket. He had been wearing nothing more than his collar and a pair of matching silk panties. He was currently wearing his “good” collar; the one that was a thin piece of cream velvet threaded through links of gold. Not gold plate but actual 24-karat of pure cold and gleaming gold along the length that covered the front of his throat. The good collar with the golden tag engraved with the name “Doll”. Jungkook hadn’t had it engraved by a professional but had rather done it himself when he had bought it, seated between Jimin’s legs with an engraving tool so that he could scratch the letters into the gold. The other man had watched him work back then, breath warm on his neck and arms slung over his shoulders to play with the buttons of his shirt. The fact that he had signed it with his own hand it had just felt that much more authentic.

Real ownership.

He had engraved two such collar tags for Jimin. The good and the bad. The sight of the good one around his neck tonight had been a sign of things to come.

Jimin had cocked his head at him as he had held up a glass of champagne. The movement had made the tag glint in the overhead lights and it had been almost as bright as his teeth behind his lips. Oh Jungkook just hadn’t been able to control himself, quaffing just three glasses before dragging him off his lap and wrenching off the panties. Then had come the awkward dance of tangled limbs and clothes as he had struggled to get him over to the bed on the ground-floor, Jimin giggling drunkenly the entire time. It was a dance that he was very much used to by now, and yet the sound of Jimin’s giggles; breathy and sweet, still affected him the same way. Still made a tight little coil of heat spread in his lower stomach.

“Fuck,” Jimin cursed, the strained and broken moan escaping his lips. “Master I’m luh-leaking. The sheets will be ruined.”

“Turn over, Doll,” Jungkook instructed, pulling out of him. Any other time he would have just pulled on the leash but it currently wasn’t attached to the metal loop on the front. Jimin did as he ordered, flipping over onto his back and spreading his thighs wide for him without being told to do so. Jungkook seized hold of knees and pushed on them, angling them forward so that Jimin’s hips were lifted off the bed. Then he seized hold of his ankles and shoved them hard. He pressed them against the metal headboard frame and looked down at the other man.

Jimin was just lying there waiting for him, spread open perfectly. His stomach was clenched from the severe angle he had forced him into, making his muscles stand out hard under his golden skin. One of his hands was on the bed, fingers tightly snagged in the silk sheets. The other was wrapped tightly around his leaking cock. He hadn’t lied when he had said that he had, he must have gotten a little excited. The head of his cock was beaded with precum, a slight splash on the backs of his fingers. Jungkook watched him drag his thumb across his swollen head, thighs quivering as he did. His entrance and inner thighs were slick from lube and the smears of his own cum dribbling out of the tight ring of his muscles.

“Puh-please, Master, I’ve been good. I deserve this treat.”

“What do you want, Doll?” Jungkook asked, cocking his head to look down at him. Jimin’s cheeks were flushed and his lower lip was starting to redden from where he had bitten down on it over and over, from when he had sucked and nibbled it between his own teeth when Jimin had been rutting on his lap.

“Guh…give it to me Master,” he begged, brow quivering as he held his gaze.

Jimin was far from shy. After several years spent in front of a camera he didn’t do coy. No, Jimin could be so very blunt about his wants and needs that Jungkook never got bored of hearing it. Just like his penchant for begging his father for gifts, Jimin had his way. He had his pout, his own pitiful whine to his tone when he was told no. If all else failed he had his mouth as a last resort, which he could utilise like no other. When Jimin wanted something it could apply to a great many things. A new item of designer clothing (which he usually got with little fuss). A pet cat almost as expensive as said designer clothing (which he had earned upon delivery of several expert blowjobs during boring meetings with Woo). Or a new toy to add to his collection, like the latest prostate massager that looked like some weapon from a bad sci-fi film (which had taken him a whole weekend of cocaine and orgasm bliss in a yacht around Jeju Island and the “bad” collar to get). At least some of Jimin’s demands benefited him too.

But when it came to fucking Jimin was something else. Jungkook had noticed it during the first night of recording him in his suite and he had learnt it the exact same night. He used many tools at his disposal to get what he wanted, all reliant on his collar. “Good” Jimin begged or told him what he wanted, eyes half-lidded and filled with lust. “Bad” Jimin demanded or got physical. Sometimes he cried and yelled until he was gasping for air.

Jimin had told him to give it to him and so Jungkook did. He moved forward and slipped inside of him again, not even gently easing himself back inside. No, he thrust hard and fast and the result was Jimin making a strangled series of breathless moans. The tag jangled almost melodically against the metal chains of the collar just like the bed frame creaked.

“Ah, ah, like that, Master!” Jimin’s fist was curled up in a tight little fist around his cock and he was jerking himself off in a fast and fluid movement. He did have years of experience after all. “I’ve been waiting fuh-for this all, ah, all day, Master.”

“Talk to me, Doll,” Jungkook instructed, eyes unable to look away from the jangling tag as it bounced off his clavicle. He was almost hypnotised by it.

“I couldn’t stop thinking, fuck, about you, Master,” Jimin moaned, voice hitching as he did. A rather pitiful dribble of precum spurted out to land on his stomach, clashing against his tanned skin. “I fuh…fucked myself with your favourite toy.”

“Did you record it?”

“Yuh-yes, just for you, not for the-” Jimin whimpered, “the website. Just for you, Master.” Jimin’s legs were shaking so much that it was hard to keep hold of his ankles. Jungkook could feel his own muscles starting to do so to, a rather wonderful shiver in his thighs that made thrusting difficult. So Jungkook shifted his rhythm to stay deep inside of him. That meant he didn’t have to move as much, but he still felt the collision of his hips pounding against the very tops of Jimin’s thighs.

“Make me cum, Master, make me- ah, ah, ah!” Each thump of his hips against Jimin caused a throb at the base of his cock and Jungkook couldn’t help a few breathless moans escaping his own mouth. He knew that some men that used whores didn’t care about their pleasure but Jimin wasn’t a whore. Not exactly. He was more of a...pet. Orgasms might just be the most important part for his men and yet not just for him. Jungkook liked knowing that he performed well enough to make Jimin orgasm too.

Jimin couldn’t fake it. Not like the faux smiles of business associates that pretended to be friends. Jimin couldn’t play pretend. His pleasure was the one thing that he knew was real and wasn’t a lie.

“Tuh-tell me I’ve buh-been guh-good, Master,” Jimin begged as he started squirming under him. Jungkook lost his grip on his ankles and instead ended up balanced on his elbows but the other man kept his hips lifted up for him, entire body rocking from each thrust. He didn’t make the usual noises, the perfectly fake and timed shouts of a porn star, but instead made breathy keening noises to signal the intensity of his pleasure.

“You’ve been good, Doll, the best. Fuck, you’re the best, the-”

Jimin threw his head back against the pillow as he bucked his hips up. His back arched sharply as he did, sweat-coated skin brushing against skin. His fingers sank tightly into the bed sheets and let out a cry of pleasure as he was hit by his climax, ejaculating all over his stomach. When their hips collided hard it made the cum splash and create flecks much like modern art. Jungkook was still thrusting into him and he grabbed his hair tightly in one hand as he darted his head forward and pressed his mouth against the collar. He ran his tongue up along the side of his throat, tasting sweat and faded perfume and then he snagged the cream velvet between his teeth. He felt the gold plated links, cold and hard, and that was when he climaxed. He moaned through the mouthful of collar as his muscles clenched and then quivered. A burst of heat exploded deep down in his stomach and spread upward like wildfire. It was strong enough to make his vision cut to white and then flashes of colour, all of them throbbing in rhythm with his racing pulse.

Jungkook collapsed on top of him, fingers still tight in his hair and cock deep inside of him. He could feel the sticky wetness of Jimin’s semen all over his stomach, now smearing on his too. He turned his face and pressed it against the other man’s throat, body still thrumming with pleasure. Jimin lowered his legs down and he felt his lips brushing against his hair, one hand moving from the bed sheets to settle on his lower back. His fingers traced the slight dip there, traced his tattoo. For a few seconds he just stayed in place, catching his breath and clinging onto the vestiges of his orgasm. Then he pulled out of Jimin but stayed lying on top of him. He could feel his heartbeat thumping through his chest and his breath was quick and warmth against his shoulder and the side of his neck.

Jungkook shifted so that he could fold his elbows on the other man’s chest, propping himself up to reach his throat. He turned the collar around so that he could get to the clasp and then he undone the small and discreet buckle, feeding the velvet through so that he could remove it. When he dropped it on the mattress the metal links clanged together musically. Jimin stretched under him with a series of satisfied noises.

“Only you can fuck me that good, Kookie,” he said, lowering his head to look at him. Now that the collar was gone there was no need for the nicknames. He was Jungkook - or Kookie once more, and Jimin was Jimin not Doll. His dark hair fanned out across the pillow, several locks on his brow. Jungkook reached up to brush them back with the rest and then he ran his fingers down to his throat. He gently massaged at his skin, fingers and thumb caressing where the collar might have dug into his skin. “Those guys you pay to fuck me?” Jimin started laughing, the tone light and sweet and bringing a smile to Jungkook’s face. It was hard finding someone with laughter that actually pleased him rather than got under his skin. That was likely why Jungkook liked him so much.

Well that and his fantastic flexibility.

“What about them?”

“Such a waste of cash,” Jimin said with a laugh. Jungkook couldn’t help but return it. “Fuck me for free instead.”

“Then who would be the star of my films, hmm?” Jungkook asked, fingers gently massaging his skin. He didn’t want the collar to chafe his skin and leave blemishes behind. A light bruising would be fine but nothing too extreme. He needed to look good on camera and makeup covered light bruises good enough. Velvet burns and dark purple bruises did not cover well however.

“Mmm, true I am hard to replace. Impossible even,” Jimin agreed, closing his eyes and letting him trace his veins with the tips of his fingers. “Kookie?” He made a soft noise to let him know that he was listening. “Did something happen today? Something good? You seem to be in a good mood.”

“There’s a new recruit,” Jungkook explained as he ran his fingers down from his throat to his collarbones instead, dipping and then running them over the strong curve of bone. “I’ve got my eye on him.”

“Is he pretty?”

“Very. He’s still a rookie, a new blood brought in as a tribute. I saw him standing in the courtyard with a bunch of other rookies. They were all thugs: broken noses, terrible hair, ill-fitting suits. Not him. He was still wearing a pretty cheap suit granted, but that’s to be expected. Pinstripe, black and grey over a crisp white shirt. He was tall and broader than you, but it was a good look even when I knew the suit came off a rack rather than tailored. I can fix that issue no problem.” Jimin told him to describe him, eyes still closed. The tight little spray of eyelashes on his cheekbones brought back a good description. “He had these big eyes,” Jungkook said, reaching up to snag his eyelids between his thumb and his forefinger so he could pull one of his eyes open. Jimin grinned at this widely. “Big eyes, brown but not dark and dull. Chocolate with a nice dribble of honey added to them when the light hit his face. Lashes as thick and pretty as a girl’s.”

“And?”

“Dark hair, a little too long. I didn’t like how the ends covered his brow so much. His nose wasn’t like yours,” Jungkook said as he batted at the pointed tip of his nose, “but was stronger and his lips…”

“Blow job lips?” Jimin asked as he ran his thumb along his lower lip. The man opened his mouth invitingly and when he slipped his thumb forward he lightly bit down on it with a smirk.

“Shit, Jimin, I could just picture them in my head. Slick and swollen with spit and cum dribbling out of the corner.”

“Lovely description, darling,” Jimin said as he released his thumb from his teeth.

“Do you know how hard it was for me to sit through a meeting when all I could think of in my head was the sight of him unzipping my trousers and going down on my cock?” Jungkook explained, thumb instead moving down to gently brush along his chin. “His voice is deep, but warm and not dull. I could almost hear him gagging on me, those pretty lashes fluttering.” Just talking about it was enough to make a warmth spread in the pit of his stomach. “I’m going to make him mine. No one else is getting their hands on him. They will turn him into another lackey bitch, a tight little hole to have on the side with the rest of them.”

“You think the others will want him that bad?” Jimin asked, reaching up to take hold of his wrist gently, own thumb rubbing along his inner wrist.

“You haven’t seen him, babe. He looks better than any rent boy they can get their hands on, you know how this works. Fucking women doesn’t prove anything, but having a man under you, that’s dominance. That’s the kick, the turn-on,” Jungkook explained as he watched Jimin’s thumb slowly tracing the veins on his wrist. “Having a man broken into because of you is ultimate dominance. They will want him. He’s pretty enough. Sure most of them will make him wear wigs and makeup to make the fucking more palatable, but they will still fuck him.”

“Not if you make him off-limits.”

“I’m not letting some skin dealer or meth-head touch him. They will fuck him up and ruin him, infect him with all kinds of shit,” Jungkook said, having to curb the disgust from his voice as he did. “I’ve seen some of the recruits, plucked right off the streets. Like fucking rabbits, get too close and they start sweating, can barely walk. I’m not letting some fucker rape him and turn him into a bitch. I’m making him mine.”

“What’s his name?”

“Taehyung.”

“Well,” Jimin said as he reached up to grab his shoulders and gently push him off. Jungkook shifted to lie on the bed beside him instead of on top of him, slinging an arm over his ribs to keep him in place. The other man studied this for a moment, clearly planning on sitting up but now unable to do so. “You’ll have to introduce us soon. I want to meet him too. I bet he’ll look good on film. Now I want to clean up and get some champagne, maybe a few Valium so-”

“Get the champagne,” Jungkook spoke over him, “and the Valium but don’t clean up. I’ll just make a mess again.” He watched Jimin climb off the bed and cross the room, walking with that usual sway of his. The one that had caught his eye when he had first walked into the suite a few months ago. The other man’s hips just seemed to gently swing with each step, as alluring as that of a woman. Jungkook ran his eyes down his bare spine to the curve of his buttocks, seeing a slick mixture of lube and cum right at the tops of his inner thighs.

“You know how much I love mess,” Jimin sarcastically called to him as he collected the bottle off the glass table, holding the neck firmly and slipping his fingers inside the flutes so that he could carry it all in one hand. Then he was carrying them over to place on the dresser beside the bed, placing them down beside the lube.

“Actually, grab my phone too. I have a call to make.”

“Anything else, Master?” Jimin drawled as he pulled the top drawer open and grabbed the bottle of prescription Valium. He uncapped it and tossed a pill into his mouth, swallowing it dry.

“Yes, hurry up and get your ass back in bed. We’re not finished.”

When a series of hard knocks sounded on the door Taehyung shifted to sit up and stare at the door across the room. He had been doing nothing more than stare up at the ceiling for the last several hours, the remains of stubbed out cigarette butts all over the sheets of the bed, and he had started drifting off at some point. So when the knocks sounded they dragged him rudely back to reality. For a few seconds he was overcome with a rather crippling sense of disorientation as he looked at his unfamiliar surroundings. It took him a moment to figure out that he wasn’t in his own apartment room after a day-long shift in the department but was rather across the capital sitting in a small boarding room that belonged to Haedogje Pa. He had spent an entire day undercover and tomorrow he was going to continue because that was his life right now. Taehyung swung his legs over the side of the bed with a soft groan. He had forgotten to take his shoes off earlier and so the soles of his shoes brushed against the wooden flooring rather than his bare feet. He knocked the carton of cigarettes to the floor and shifted so that he could pick it up and check it. He thumbed the top up to see three sticks left and then dropped it on the bed beside the stubbed out remains.

“Hey open up!” A voice called in through the thin wood, a voice that Taehyung thought he recognised. He reached up to rub at his heavy eyes with one hand, squinting through the hazy remains of smoke at the door.

Who was it on the other side exactly, and why were they knocking? He recalled that he had locked the door at some point and maybe that had been a smart idea on his end. Should he answer the door? Should he pretend that he wasn’t inside the room? It was late and he hadn’t turned the light on, so nothing would bleed out from the frame of the door and give him away. If he stayed quiet and didn’t react then they might just think that he wasn’t in the room. But what if it was an emergency? What if it had anything to do with Jungkook? There was another series of loud sounds on the door, a fist pounding on the other side. Taehyung jumped in surprise at the sight of the thin piece of wood nearly rattling in its frame. He got to his feet and stumbled across the room to get to the door, fumbling with the lock so that he could open the door and peer out into the hallway.

“Kim, I’ve got a proposition for you,” Nam said as he smiled at him through the gap in the door. Taehyung found that he didn’t like the sunny smile. It looked predatory. “A very good proposition so why don’t you let me in so we can talk, huh?”

“What kind of proposition?” he asked, stalling because he didn’t want to let him into his room. He didn’t know why but there was an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was something off with the situation but he couldn’t seem to figure out what it was. All that he knew was that he didn’t want to let the man into his room because it didn’t feel safe.

“Let me in and we can talk business matters inside,” Nam said, still offering him that wide smile.

“Master Jeon told me I’m not allowed to accept propositions,” he lied. Well, it wasn’t quite a lie. Jungkook had told him that Nam wasn’t allowed to get his hands on him and that was what he was trying to stop. He didn’t know why Jungkook wanted Nam far away from him but he didn’t want to find out. “So I don’t think I should-”

“There’s nothing wrong with talking business, is there Kim?” The man cocked his head at him and he felt a shiver running down his spine even though he didn’t know why. “Open up.”

Taehyung studied him for a moment before closing the door over. Except before he could do so an arm shot and Nam grabbed hold of the door to stop him. There was a momentary struggle, he pushing on one side and the man on the other and Taehyung quickly realised something. If he didn’t stop him somehow the man was going to knock him back and force his way into the room and then he was going to be in trouble. That meant that he needed to get out into the hallway before he could get into the room.

“Hang on!” Taehyung called through the slight gap. “Move back and I’ll open the door!” A second or so later Nam pulled his arm out of the gap and so he hastily pulled it open and stepped out into the corridor before he could force his way into the room. He pressed himself up against the wall as he turned his head to look at the man. At least when they were out in the hallway there was a feeling that this was safer, that others would be able to see and hear them. All along the hallway he could see that recruits had moved to stand in their doorways to watch. Clearly enjoying the free entertainment. Good, Taehyung wanted them to watch so that the man wouldn’t do something stupid.

“You know, Kim,” Nam said as he lifted a hand to brush his hair back into place. Because of the door incident a few locks had fallen forward to land on his brow and he slicked them back with the rest of his hair. His sunglasses had stayed firmly in place however. “When a superior tells you what to do, you don’t slam a fucking door in his face.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Did you do that to Lim, huh?” Taehyung just shook his head because he seemed to have lost the ability to speak right now. He could see that the man’s shirt was wrinkled and free of his trousers, one end hanging down. “Fucking new meat these days got no manners. You didn’t even let me explain.”

“Master Jeon told me not accept propositions right now,” he repeated even though he knew it was useless. He wasn’t going to listen to him because he hadn’t listened the countless times he had told him already.

“I got a better proposition than his, by far.” Nam shifted so that he was leaning closer to him, as if wanting to keep his words a secret between the pair of them. “You can have any bitch you want if you work for me,” he said and Taehyung felt his breath on his cheek. He was that close. He could feel the warmth and detect the strong scent of beer. Oh great, the man was drunk. That made everything even more terrifying. Drunk men were unpredictable men. Drunk mobsters? He didn’t even want to imagine what that would be like and yet here he was on the receiving end of such a thing, Nam might just be fucked up on other things too, stoned or high on a cocktail of drugs. “I got the best selection in the whole of Seoul.”

“I don’t-don’t want ‘em,” he managed to stammer out, eyes still focused on a spot over the man’s shoulder rather than on his face.

“Oh?” Nam said this word in a tone that was both amused and surprised. “What about boys, huh?”

Taehyung’s eyes slid back to his face so fast he was rather surprised that they didn’t roll right out of his head. What he saw was not the other man’s eyes but his own face reflected back in the sunglasses he was wearing. He saw that his reflection was distorted, rather freakish-looking. But despite the strangeness there was no mistaking his wide eyes. Taehyung could see his own fear plain as day and that meant one thing. Nam could see it too. He would see it so obviously on his face. Hell, the other man could probably smell it coming off him right now.

“I-I-”

“I’ve got plenty of boys too. Koreans, got a few from Japan too, and other places. Delicate. Hairless. So tight that every fuck is like the very first according to clients that-”

“I’m-muh, I’m not interested.” Taehyung could barely speak, his throat had tightened so much that it was hard to breathe and he felt his hands shaking uselessly at his sides.

“Hey, so what if you’re a homo,” Nam said. The very word made Taehyung flinch, right at the corners of his eyes and unmissable. “Everybody knows that the brat prince is too. Even daddy dearest knows his son’s a closeted homo but he doesn’t talk about it. Looks bad for the future, you know I-”

The man’s arm shot forward just inches from his head and he heard his palm slamming against the wall. Taehyung moved back in surprise, a little cry escaping his mouth. That was when he realised that he was trapped in place against the wall. The man had him trapped and he didn’t know what to do. Taehyung tried ducking under his arm to get free but Nam dropped his arm to grab hold of his hair roughly, slamming him back against the wall hard enough to hurt. His fingers had snagged so tight that his scalp burnt and he didn’t let go. No, Nam used the leverage to twist him around and pin against the wall instead. Taehyung’s cheek bounced off the plaster hard and his vision faltered for a second from the blow. His other hand seized hold of his hip, pinning him in place effectively. Except that wasn’t what he was doing.

Nam was pulling at the waistband of his trousers.

He had been prepared for a great many things but he had not been prepared for this. He had learnt how to handle firearms and other forms of self-defense from Hoseok, all for use in a life or death situations. Taehyung had not been taught what to do if a man tried to assault him. That was the one thing that he hadn’t even thought would happen and as a result he didn’t even know what the fuck he was supposed to do. All logical parts of his brain screamed for him to fight back, to grab Nam’s hands and shove him off him but he didn’t seem capable of doing that. He was too shocked to do much more than rather pathetically try to free himself. They were right out in the open. Why wasn’t anyone doing anything? Were the other recruits hovering in the doorways just going to stand there and do nothing?

“Fresh meat don’t say no to orders,” Nam growled down his ear and Taehyung couldn’t help a whine escaping. Oh god, he was so scared he was convinced that he would burst into hysterical tears but he couldn’t do that. That would make things even worse for him. “Technically you’re nothing more than one of my bitches right now. Did you know that?”

“Uh-I’m sorry I didn’t-”

“You think that the brat prince’s interest means anything? He was just bored for the day, he doesn’t give a shit about you.”

“He-he told me-”

“I don’t give a shit either. No one talks back to me, especially not fresh meat. I don’t take orders from bitches.” Taehyung tried to reach back to grab at his hand. He could feel that the man was starting to get his trousers down through force alone, even with the zipper still up in place. His fingers brushed against the waistband and he felt the bare skin of his upper buttocks against his knuckles. But it was a big mistake. Nam pulled on his hair hard and then slammed his head against the wall. Taehyung was more than certain that his brain rattled in his skull at this. A rather pathetic moan escaped his mouth and he pulled his hands away for fear of him doing so again. He had long surpassed panic mode and had instead entered absolute terror level. That resulted in him squirming as much as he could even though it was useless.

“Master Juh-Jeon said-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, well I’m your master now, you little bitch.”

Taehyung felt the waistband of his trousers being wrenched down hard enough to reach his upper thighs now, underwear tangling with them to be pulled down too. His ass was on show to the entire hallway of recruits and it was that shame mingling with his fear that made the first hysterical sob escaped his gritted teeth. Not even his second day undercover and he was going to be attacked, was going to be raped in a hallway full of people to set an example to the other recruits: do what you’re told or you’ll regret it.

Taehyung knew one thing and it was this. If this happened it wouldn’t be the last time, the only time. The other recruits would be above him, would be able to push him around and do whatever they wanted to him. That was how the hierarchy worked. Eat or be eaten, and right now Taehyung was being slowly roasted in preparation for a hell of a feast. If this happened then it was all over for him. He couldn’t possibly infiltrate and get information if he was turned into a bitch. He wouldn’t have to worry about being caught out as a rat, he wouldn’t even get close to the important men unless he was pinned against a wall by one of them, crying like he was currently was.

“Puh-puh-please, I duh-didn’t-”

“Nam.”

Taehyung’s eyes shot open and he twisted his head to catch sight of a man at the end of the hallway. It took him a moment of dumb staring through his tears before he figured out that he knew the man. It was the one from the meeting yesterday, the one with grey hair and owl eyes behind his spectacles: Woo. The man that Jungkook seemed to have as an aid. Taehyung blinked several times to try and clear his fuzzy vision and he saw that was correct. It was Woo.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Nam,” the man said, reaching up to fiddle with his glasses. The gesture looked calculated and pedantic. “Master Jeon will be very angry to hear about this.”

The hand on his trouser waistband let go and Taehyung felt his breath hitching in his throat. Had he…had he just rescued his ass both figuratively and literally? His eyes were still stinging and he wanted to wipe at them but he was too scared to move. Just in case Nam decided to slam his already aching head against the wall again. Yet a few seconds later his hand released his hair. Taehyung reached down to grab his trousers and frantically pulled them up. His fingers were shaking so badly that he couldn’t seem to do so but after a momentary struggle he managed. With his other hand he wiped at his eyes roughly. He tried to suppress the need to snivel because he had already made the mistake of crying. The weight of countless eyes were on him as he tried to shove his shirt ends back into his trousers, and he couldn’t help but sob softly on each exhale as he tried to get himself under control.

“Master Jeon has need of you, Kim,” Woo explained. Taehyung froze in the act of fixing his shirt and looked up at him sharply, unable to hide his surprise. “So follow me.” When he twisted to look over his shoulder he saw that Nam was already storming across the hallway in the direction of the exit. When the man passed Woo he saw his eyes slide over to look at him from behind his thick glasses. A look that might just have been discontent or disgust appeared for a second or so before it was once again replaced by the usual emotionless mask.

“Muh-Master Jeon wuh-wants me-”

“Yes he does, so fix yourself up.”

Taehyung didn’t know if Woo had done this because he looked a mess and he wanted him to look presentable for Jungkook, or whether he had done so for another purpose. Maybe he had done it to make him neaten up, or maybe he had done so to allow Nam to get into the lot and off the premises before they left the building? Whatever the case he was thankful for it. Taehyung took a moment to get his shirt tucked neatly back into his trouser waistband and then he reached up to fix his hair. Nam’s fingers had knotted the lengths tight enough to make it all a birds nest of tangles and so he tried his best to fix it all without a mirror. As soon as he looked somewhat presentable Woo turned on his heel and pushed the door open, and so he followed along after him at a quick pace. He didn’t want to annoy the other man after he had saved his ass. It only took them a moment to get out of the building, walking down another hallway and then through a set of doors, and when they both stepped outside he heard a familiar sound. It was that of a car engine getting quieter and more distant with each passing second: that of Nam leaving the area. Taehyung let his breath out in a sigh of relief as he walked behind Woo to cross the courtyard and get to the archway. Emerging on the other side he saw that they were standing in the front lot and that was when he noticed something.

The car in the lot in front of them was Jungkook’s Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the body like liquid night in the lights of the building. Taehyung stared at it dumbly and he realised that this meant that they were supposed to get inside. So he darted forward to get the door for the other man, holding it open so that Woo could climb inside. He closed the door over and went around to the other side to get inside too. The interior was smooth black leather and there was a driver in the front behind a glass partition. He hadn’t done much more than pull the door shut when there came the sound of the engine starting, a low roaring purr. Then the car was pulling out of the lot in a smooth curve to drift towards the gates. On the seat beside him Woo moved to retrieve his phone from his jacket, pressing it against his ear in a fluid and expert movement.

“I’ve collected him, Master Jeon, we’re on our way across Mapo-gu,” Woo said in that usual flat tone of his, eyes staring at the back of the seat in front of him rather than out of the window. Taehyung could hear a static sound of the other end of the line, Jungkook’s voice, but he couldn’t hear the words at all and rather just noise. “Yes yes, as you wish, Master Jeon.” He ended the call and slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket. “Kim?”

“Yuh-yeah Sir?”

“Stop crying.” Woo’s tone was firm but not aggressive and Taehyung sniffed and took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart down. If this was the level of stress and fear he was going to be put under every single day then he might just drop dead from a heart attack to save them all the trouble.

“Uh, Mr. Woo, Sir?” He didn’t really know what title to address the man by and he felt rather dumb. Like a school kid trying to talk to a principal. “Wuh…what does Master Jeon want me for?”

“Master Jeon did not say, just that he wanted you delivered to him.” Woo reached up to fix his glasses.

Deliver? That made him sound like a parcel, like an order in the mail rather than a human. Why hadn’t he told the man about it? Taehyung was pretty certain that the man was an associate, perhaps a tutor of sorts that Jeon had assigned him to guide him through the current events Haedogje Pa was going through. Why wouldn’t he tell him what he wanted him for? A series of thoughts raced through his mind and Taehyung felt the most pressing urge to gnaw on his lip.

He didn’t settle down in the backseat because he didn’t at all feel comfortable. Riding in the back of The Boy’s S-Class was a sensation that made his spine rigid with fear. Taehyung was scared of scuffing the leather, of leaving a mark at all that could see his ass being beat. He would much prefer a beating to any other alternative but if possible he was trying his very hardest to avoid that too. He just stared at his hands on his lap rather than do anything else, at the tight little fists on his knees. After what felt like an eternity, nothing more than the soft drone of traffic and the engine filling the silence and flashes of neon lights and streetlights and headlights coming in through the glass, he shifted to look out of the window at the sight outside.

Taehyung was pretty certain that they were in Gangnam-gu. Though he had only ever passed through the district and had never lingered he recognised the streets. He had seen them in photographs enough times to know where he was. In fact he knew without a doubt that they were on Cheongdam-dong because he could see the designer stores on either side of the street. There was Cartier going right past lit up like a fucking beacon so that the displays inside were blinding gleam of gold and cut diamonds. The opulence was overwhelming and he could only stare out of the window like a tourist as the neon signs that stretched so high up they were trying to break into the very stratosphere. Despite being such a wealthy area the sidewalks were packed full. Taehyung wondered if a lot of people liked to window-shop or whether they were actually spending cash in the stores. Maybe the women outside were related to Haedogje Pa: wives, girlfriends, sisters, mothers. Maybe the men too. Maybe they were connected to CEOs, politicians and celebrities. They might just have simply been rich but Taehyung knew one thing as it was this. Anyone with money in the capital was connected to Haedogje Pa somehow.

When the S-Class finally came to a stop it did so right outside of a Samsung apartment complex. It was a towering structure of glass and chrome and metal, so rich that it should have looked rather cheap and tacky. It didn’t however, it looked exactly like what Taehyung had imagined in his head all of this time. This was the kind of place an heir lived: a palace fit for a prince. He was so distracted by the sight out of the window that it took him a few seconds to realise that he had been staring. Taehyung popped his door open before darting around the back to open Woo’s door for him. Considering the fact that he had saved his ass he thought such a servile act was deserved. Woo stepped out, fixing his jacket as he did. Then he walked across the sidewalk to get to the front doors. Taehyung slammed the door shut and then he hastily followed after him. There were two men on the doors and they were let in with no problem. But when they stepped inside a bouncer approached them.

“Shoes,” he said, gravelly voice almost a bark. Taehyung dropped to his knee to unlace his shoes, fingers trembling but able to complete the task. He stepped out of them and hooked his fingers in the backs to hold them up. They were taken out of his hand roughly by another bouncer and then the man was grabbing hold of his arms. They were forced up to his sides and then he was being patted down. After what had just happened with Nam he found it hard to stay still and put up with this, wanting to squirm and knock the hands away, but he managed to not look to discomforted by it all. After finding nothing more than his room keys in his trouser pocket - which was added to a cardboard tray with his shoes, he was granted clearance. Taehyung looked across the room to see that Woo was standing by an elevator and the man lifted a hand to gesture at him, a curt gesture telling him to get over. So he crossed the room and stood beside him.

Woo hit a button on the panel and it lit up and after a few seconds the carriage doors opened up. Taehyung waited for him to step inside first but it was clear that he wasn’t going to do so. He stepped inside instead and that was when the other man pressed a floor button. He glanced at the panel inside to see that the corresponding button had lit up and then he looked back up at the open doorway. But Woo had already turned on his heel to cross the wide entrance area and had left him alone. The doors closed with a soft pneumatic hissing sound, sealing him into the carriage.

Taehyung leaned back against the wall of the carriage, breath leaving his lungs in a wheeze. The wall vibrated lightly against his spine, almost as much as his legs were currently shaking. Though he had tried to curb himself in the car he had been - and still was, absolutely terrified. He was still breathing too fast and shallow for his liking and he could feel a sweat wanting to break out all over his body. His pulse was in his chest, his throat, even in his head so that he could feel it behind his eyeballs. Fear was a hell of an adrenaline rush. He eyed the lit up button on the panel to see that he was going pretty high up. Nearly to the top floor. Was that where Jungkook stayed, in the penthouse suite? It made perfect sense that The Boy would have the most expensive penthouse in the capital as his own. Taehyung tried to imagine what such a suite would look like and he couldn’t do so.

He had maybe a minute to regain his composure and so he closed his eyes. Listening to the rather dull drone of the carriage as it ascended helped him try and regulate his racing heartbeat and he timed his breathing much better. By the time it stopped and the doors opened with a soft pinging sound he felt a little more steady on his feet. Taehyung opened his eyes and he stared at the slight hallway in front of him before stepping out of the carriage. There was a door in front of him and he stared at it dumbly for a moment. Then came a sudden sound behind him and he wheeled around to see that it was just the doors of the elevator closing.

“…Oh,” Taehyung breathed out heavily, wanting to laugh but unable to do so. To laugh he had to be amused, not terrified. He studied the now closed doors before turning back to the one in front of him. No signs hanging on it. Should he knock or just open it? He lifted his hand and curled his fingers up before pausing, uncertain. He counted to ten in his head and then rapped his knuckles on the wood. There was a moment of silence and then he heard something through the wood; the sound of a voice.

“Enter.”

Taehyung reached down to twist the knob, unlocked door swinging open to allow him to step inside the room. The sight he was greeted with was that of a rather large apartment room suite. He rapidly scanned to see a kitchen area to his left, a sitting area to his right, and a bed far across the room beside a wall of windows. In the other far area of the room there was what looked like an office area; a massive glass and wooden desk on which several massive monitors were placed. Under them sat the actual computers, tall towers of matte black plastic and metal. Set beside this desk was a board much like the ones back in the department, on which a map and dozen of photographs were tacked. It was impossible to miss the massive file placed on the side of the desk, or the open bottle of champagne beside it.

Jungkook was seated in a padded leather chair at the desk, turned to face the door rather than the computers. He had a tall flute of champagne in one hand and there was another by the bottle. Taehyung didn’t turn to close the door but rather fumbled behind himself to find the knob. That meant that he could close the door without turning his back on Jungkook. He didn’t want to possibly be in his presence without looking at him at all costs, so he could read his expression and gauge if he was in the clear or in the danger zone.

What Taehyung currently saw was that Jungkook was a little spaced out. More faded at the edges with a soft buzz rather than stoned. That meant that he had swallowed a little something more than champagne that was for sure. He was seated back in the leather chair so that he could cock one leg up, ankle balanced on the opposite knee. He was barefoot and not wearing his suit jacket. His top two shirt buttons were undone and he briefly wondered if the zipper of his trousers was even up. Taehyung dropped his gaze momentarily before dragging it back up to his face again.

“Hmm,” Jungkook swirled the hand holding the champagne, slightly red liquid lapping against the thin flute from the lazy roll of his wrist. “Just the man I was hoping to see.”

“Good, uh, good evening, Master Jeon,” Taehyung said, cursing the fact his hands were hanging at his sides uselessly. They were shaking and so he folded them behind his back inside.

“Have a drink, Taehyung,” Jungkook said, reaching over to grab the bottle off the desk and lifting it to pour champagne into the other glass. Taehyung eyed it and wondered about the possibilities of it being spiked. The other man topped his own glass up and then got to his feet, holding it out for him to collect. He crossed the room and accepted it, bare soles brushing against the wooden flooring as he did. The fact that he had accepted seemed to please Jungkook for he saw his lips go up ever so slightly at the corners.

“What should we toast to?” Jungkook asked, lifting his brow in that same languid style that Taehyung was starting to get accustomed to.

“To Haedogje Pa?” It was more a suggestion than a reply.

“I think…we should toast to a bright and exciting future together,” Jungkook said, lifting his glass up as he did. Taehyung copied him even though he didn’t really understand his words. “Let’s toast to me and you.” He clinked their glasses together and brought the glass to his lips. Jungkook didn’t take a sip however, rather just watched him as drank. The champagne was light on his tongue, smooth and sweet and floral as he swallowed and Taehyung saw the other man’s eyes drop to watch his throat as he did. “Good?” he asked as he placed his glass down on the table.

“Very good, Master Jeon-”

Jungkook hands were firm on his shoulders as he forced him into the chair. Taehyung’s heart skipped in his chest once more and he could barely mute a surprised noise as his ass hit the padded seat. The glass fell out of his hand yet luckily didn’t shatter all over the floor. Then the other man was turning it around so he was facing the computer monitor. Jungkook leaned over his shoulder and he saw both of his hands coming to rest on the chair arms beside his elbows.

“I’ve got a job for you,” he said, breath warm against his neck as he did. Taehyung could feel his the slight weight of his chin on his shoulder. He felt the most pressing urge to turn his head and look at him but he was too close, much too close. He could smell his cologne and it was heady and strong enough to settle on his tongue. Taehyung knew that he should say something to him and yet he seemed incapable of doing so.

“…What is it, Master Jeon?” he managed to say after quite the struggle with his tongue.

“A special job that no one else will know about,” Jungkook continued. He lifted his right hand off the arm of the chair and pressed it against his lips rather than his own. Taehyung felt the most stupidest urge to wet his lips even with the weight of his finger pressing against them. “Our little secret.”

“Master Jeon?” he asked, feeling his lips dragging against the backs of his fingers as he did.

“I want you to find out the rats for me, Taehyung. I want to know where they’re hiding. The snakes too. I want to know the dark little holes they hide in and I want them dragged out and exterminated.” Jungkook cocked his head at him, gaze lingering on his finger, on his lips behind them. “Can you do that for me?”

“…Yuh-yeah. Yeah, Master Jeon I can…can do that.”

“Good,” Jungkook pulled his hand away from his mouth and instead placed it on his head. Taehyung felt the warmth of his palm against his hair, fingers lightly stroking through the lengths. “Find them all, help me kill them all.”

Chapter Text

When he opened his eyes it took him a few seconds to register that he was actually awake…and that he was lying on the floor. That was a surprise to him because just a moment ago he had been standing up. He had been on his feet with the sensation of a plaster wall behind his back rather than solid wooden flooring and yet...yet here he was on the floor. That was new he supposed, completely unexpected. Taehyung took a deep breath and then slowly let it out of his mouth rather than his nose as he closed his eyes again. His heart was jack-rabbiting in his chest and he didn’t need to think to figure out why. He knew why his pulse was racing a mile a minute and it was because he had just had a nightmare. A bad one. He had flailed quite a bit in his sleep and he was currently lying like a starfish on the floor, legs spread wide and arms over his head. It had made his shirt wrack up quite high, the wrinkled ends up somewhere by his ribs. The air felt rather cool on his bare stomach, but not as cool as the wood felt against his lower back and bare thighs. Somewhere on the floor along with the thin covers there would be his trousers of course. They would be wrinkled up messily in a puddle from where he had left them last night. Maybe they would be on the desk across the room. He wasn’t sure. He wouldn’t even be surprised if they were tied around his head right now.

Taehyung wasn’t at all shocked that he had had a nightmare at some point in the night, or maybe it was morning now? It had not been about Do like he had expected, not of the man being strangled to death. No, Taehyung had been the one being strangled in his nightmare. He could remember it all so vividly. In his nightmare Taehyung had been slammed against the wall just like he had yesterday, first so that his cheek had bounced off the plaster and then once again so that he had been flipped around. He had tried fighting back, had shouted and begged and yet Nam hadn’t listened to him. Not once. He had lashed out with his fists and missed every single blow he had been hoping to land. He had kicked his feet out and had twisted but to no avail whatsoever. Nam had just let go of his hair and seized hold of his throat instead, other hand reaching down to snag his trousers and wrench them down. Then the underwear.

It was the kind of nightmare that felt so terrifyingly real and even after waking it was hard to process the fact that it hadn’t actually happened. When Nam’s fingers had tightened in a death hold around his throat and cut the air off to his lungs Taehyung had very much thought that he was going to die. His head had felt like there was a great pressure building up inside of it but the sensation hadn’t stopped him from feeling anything. Hadn’t made him get light headed enough. So when Nam had slipped his underwear down with another hard tug and had then forced down the zipper of his trousers he had known exactly what had been coming.

To use the term “slipped” didn’t seem quite right to him. No, to Taehyung it seemed more fitting to say “stabbed”. Yes, he had felt the stabbing sensation of Nam’s cock burying itself inside of him like a knife. He had woken up mere seconds after this part but he had still felt it, had wondered if it was in fact of a knife that was inside of him. It had hurt enough to make him truly believe that it was. Six inches of cold and razor sharp steel. The thought was enough for him to feel the most pressing urge to curl up into a ball, the muscles in his thighs tightening uncomfortably. But that hadn’t happened. He knew that it hadn’t because he had been…well, he supposed that he had been rescued by Woo.

Taehyung reached up to touch his brow and it felt rather warm again his fingers. There was sweat on his skin and it had yet to cool. After a few seconds he dabbed it free using the heel of his hand and then he opened his eyes. The sight he was greeted by was that of a flawless white ceiling. It wasn’t the boarding house room, that much he knew. That ceiling had been covered in cracks and tobacco stains, and the one above him was free of a single blemish. There was something rather unusual about it however, and it took a moment of study for him to figure out that there was a mirror on the ceiling.

There was a mirror on the ceiling. What was that there for?

He furrowed his brow as he eyed the slightly distorted reflection of the bed. He could see the sheets were wrinkled terribly from where he had been lying - and thrashing - on the bed. One of the many pillows was missing and presumably on the floor like him. He rolled his head and sighted it on the other side of the bed. It would likely be coated in sweat just like his brow and his shirt. It took him a moment of study before he turned his head back to look at the ceiling and then he knew exactly what the mirror over the bed was for.

It was for watching of course.

Taehyung sat upright with a groan and he reached up to press the heel of his hands against his eyes first, then his temples. His head hurt and he wasn’t surprised at all. Jungkook had plied him with most of a bottle of champagne last night over some dialogue. Not much, but enough for him to faintly recall agreeing to something. He eyed the room to see that it was pretty fucking impressive. A large apartment suite, all one large room with the exception of the bathroom that was directly across from the bed. The kitchen was separated by way of a counter that served as both a kitchen table and a wall divider. There were three stools along the length, chrome and black leather. Taehyung turned his head to look over the rest of the room. The sitting area had a single leather settee facing a massive screen. It didn’t look like a TV to his eyes but he couldn’t seem to figure out what else it could be right now. A glass top table was just in front of the settee, empty of everything. In the corner of the room there was a tall potted plant, nice flowering plant. Hmm, this was interesting. Was this his workstation from now on? Was this where he was supposed to stay and work?

Taehyung struggled to his feet and he had to sit on the bed for a few seconds to get his bearings. Shit, he must have drank way too much champagne last night because he felt all woozy. That wasn’t a good idea. Drunkenness meant a loose tongue, and a loose tongue meant trouble. What was that saying again?

“Loose lips sink ships…” Taehyung muttered as his vision started to get more stable. He counted to ten in his head and then stood upright again, crossing the room to go over to the desk. He saw the computer, the files all over it. One of them was still open and in pretty deep, most of the contents inside seemingly having been scanned. Just to the side of this were two glasses and the bottle of champagne. Dom Pérignon Rose Vintage 2003. He didn’t know what any of that meant he just knew that it smelled wonderful and tasted even sweeter. There was a lovely hint of red to the liquid and it smelled just like female perfume in a glass. Taehyung lifted one of the glasses to sniff at the remains. Was this his glass or was it Jungkook’s? No way of telling at all, it wasn’t like he could identify it from the contents or lipstick smears on the glass. He put it back down and glanced at the open file. There was a photograph of a man he recognized and yet he had no name for right now. In a couple of minutes his brain would make the connection, he just needed to wake up first.

Taehyung sniffed and reached up to rub his nose roughly. He figured out what had happened last night. After being allowed into the suite Jungkook had made him swear on oath to serve him; an oath that seemed to denote him to the position of “chief rat catcher”. Which was strange because he had assumed that that position had belonged exclusively to Woo. Yet Jungkook had an apparent need for a new one too. Did that mean that he didn’t trust Woo, or that he was planning on ditching him? The thought was something that would require much private snooping to discover.

It was clear that Woo was the one thing that Jungkook had close to a teacher. He was a practice partner, a buddy to help ease him into important duties at Haedogje Pa. But perhaps he wasn’t performing as well as Jungkook wanted him too. Or perhaps Jungkook just wanted to upgrade to a younger, more attractive model. Taehyung should have felt a twinge of embarrassment for thinking of himself in such a way but he didn’t. Having seen a great many Haedogje Pa men Taehyung knew that he looked like a supermodel in comparison. He was taller than most, and slim with slight muscles hidden away under his skin thanks to Hoseok. His face had no afflictions, no disfiguring scars or busted crooked nose, no knocked out or chipped teeth.

Taehyung supposed that it was no wonder that Nam had referred to him the way he had that day. He had rapidly figured out that he had been talking about Jungkook. Jungkook who had shown a rather sudden interest in him over all recruits, who had had his ass dragged out of the boarding house and dropped off at a luxury apartment block in Gangnam-gu. Yes, Nam was a fucker but he had also told the truth. For all of the wonderful attributes that Jungkook possessed apparently reading people was not one of them. Unless he read him and saw something else beneath the surface, something even Taehyung wasn’t aware of.

“Mmm, no. I know myself,” he said as he turned back to look across the room. “I know myself better than anyone else. Better than him, better than Namjoon…”

Namjoon. The team back at the station. Taehyung was going to have to report everything to them, everything from last night to the current unraveling events of today. The idea of having to tell Namjoon about an attempted rape on his person was not something that he wanted to do. Could he lie? Could he bullshit and not say a thing? Did the crew even need to know if it didn’t affect gang activity? Why, Taehyung was willing to bet that a dozen or more Haedogje Pa new bloods had been raped over the last few days alone. This was what happened in gangs. That was the true purpose of rape. A weapon of power and control, not for sex. Taehyung didn’t need to tell them but at the same time he felt like he should. He had to report everything and if an attempted rape happened, then the team should be told. It would change nothing but-

The screen on the wall lit up like a beacon.

Taehyung dragged his gaze away from the messy bed to stare at it and see that it was alerting him to a message. That was when he figured out what it was. It was some form of intercom system that connected all of the apartment rooms together, or maybe something closer to a webcam. He had no idea what kind of message he was receiving or from whom and so he moved to get closer. It appeared that he had to accept the call and so he squinted at the screen to see an ID code. Then he pressed the button on the side and a second later the screen turned into a livefeed. Taehyung eyed the screen dumbly before realising that he was looking into another room. Whoever had called him must have moved out of the eye of the camera for a moment.

From the speakers he heard muffled voices and then Jungkook suddenly stepped into the frame. He was in the act of buttoning his shirt up and Taehyung wondered if he had only just woken up. Or had he been awake and just not dressed for quite some time now? He dropped his gaze to study his fingers for a few seconds before looking back up again. He could see some of the massive penthouse behind him and on a leather settee he was pretty certain that he could see a leopard. It was the biggest fucking cat that he had ever seen not locked behind the cages of a zoo and it took up quite a lot of the settee, sleeping from what he could tell.

“Ah, I see that you’re awake?” Jungkook asked, lifting his hand so that he could secure the left cuff of his shirt.

“Yeah, Master Jeon, I’m awake and I apologise for keeping you waiting,” Taehyung said in a quiet voice. After yesterday’s rather terrifying brush with Nam he had decided to be as courteous as possible from this point onward. The aim of the game was to sound meek. “Do you require my…services?”

“A tribute awake at 6:30am. That’s new.” Jungkook grinned to himself. “Have you checked the files that I left in your possession?”

“I’ve read most of one of the three,” Taehyung explained. He was suddenly aware of his terrible state of undress, the wrinkled shirt and bare thighs visible under the lengths. How much of him could Jungkook see exactly? Watching him get ready made him reach up with one hand to pat at his hair. He found that it was messily corkscrewed every which way. “I’m planning on reading all of them as soon as I can. Then checking the…there are virtual files aren’t there, Master Jeon?”

“Yes, many.”

“I would’ve read ‘em all but…” Taehyung paused and wet his lips. This made the young man smirk at him. No need to specify about the champagne, it was clear that they were both aware of how he had nervously quaffed most of the bottle.

“What do you think of them exactly?” Jungkook asked as glanced up at him, one eyebrow lifting languidly at him. Looking at it Taehyung couldn’t help but think of a cat; a sleek black cat with large eyes and even larger canines. He was like a delectable treat for him and he tried to not fidget and hold his gaze.

“I think, Master Jeon…” Taehyung paused for a moment to sort his thoughts out. He didn’t want to sound too eager to accept the role because that could seem suspicious. Was he eager because he wanted to please, or was he eager because he wanted secret information? Like a rat he was supposed to be hunting down. “I think that it could take me a day to get through the files but…I think that I can handle this.”

“Think or know? No need for modesty with me, Taehyung. I deal in absolutes not possibilities.”

“I know I can,” he confirmed, this time adding a nod onto it to appear more certain. At this he saw Jungkook’s lips lift in a wide smile: pleased. It made him look strangely younger, almost sweet. Then Taehyung recalled his grin after Do’s death and he rapidly changed his mind. “Master Jeon, I know that I can handle this.”

“OK, then you shouldn’t mind me testing you. I will start off easy.” Jungkook shifted on the other end of the camera feed, shirt rustling slightly as he did. “Seen as you’re from Mapo-gu, I will be nice too.” Taehyung was actually from Yongsan-gu but he wasn’t going to correct him. “I want dirt on someone you met yesterday, I want dirt on Nam.”

Taehyung felt a lump appearing in his throat at this, slipping up from his stomach and making it hard to swallow. Of all of the men he had picked Nam. He was already trying to push him out of his mind and yet he had been dragged right back to the surface. Like a slap across the face. His skin felt cold.

“Master Jeon, can I be…be honest with you?”

“Honesty? I can’t say that it’s something Haedogje Pa deal in greatly but yes.” Jungkook finished securing his other cuff and he gave him his full attention. “I want you to be honest with me, Taehyung.”

“I don’t like Nam.” For a few seconds the young man was still and silent on the other end of the line and Taehyung wondered if he had stepped out of line. He was a new blood after all (or a tribute like Jungkook had just called him) and honesty or not there was still degrees of respect that he must stick to. “I mean, he’s vocally a critic of you. He doesn’t stay quiet and concentrate on his position. He might always be in profit but…but I still don’t like him, Master Jeon.”

“That makes two of us…” Jungkook muttered to himself as he reached up to fix his shirt collar. In the background Taehyung saw someone moving around, a quick flash of a body and nothing more than that. He thought it might just be a male however, judging from the frame. He thought about what Nam had said yesterday, about the likelihood of his sexual preferences, and then he dragged his eyes back to look at Jungkook’s face. “Keep up the hard work, Taehyung. I don’t want to create too much pressure but I expect great things from you. I’ve got high expectations for a great many things…” Jungkook’s expression shifted slightly at this and Taehyung wet his lips nervously again. “So deliver.”

“I…I will, Master Jeon.”

The call ended just a second or so after he promised this. Taehyung watched him reach over to hit something he couldn’t see, likely a button on the side of his device. Then the screen cut to black. He could see a hint of his reflection on the smooth black surface. Messy hair, wide eyes. Hadn’t Jungkook said something about it being 6:30am? How much sleep had he even gotten? It didn’t seem that he had gotten much but he was wide awake right now, almost surging with energy. That meant that he should stay awake and focus on working for Jungkook. Taehyung let his breath out in a weary sigh and he turned back to run his eyes across the room. The alluring sight of the open bathroom doorway called him and so he crossed the room to enter it.

He didn’t even look at the interior but rather just moved to sit down on the closed over toilet seat. He placed his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. Before he could stop himself he felt his eyes starting to sting and he roughly wiped at them. Now was not the time for crying, he had done enough of that yesterday in the boarding home with Nam pinning him against a wall. Right now he had a job to do, and that job was sorting through the files. His fear could wait for a time when it was valid. Right now he was far away from Nam, was in a nice safe apartment suite where he couldn’t get his hands on him. What had happened yesterday had happened, and he had to push it aside right now.

Taehyung had been given the greatest opportunity. One that he couldn’t have even hoped for. But it wasn’t an easy job, not by far. It was going to be a constant challenge and he had to apply himself as hard as he could to ensure that he did this right. All of the access to files…shit, Taehyung was pretty damn sure that he was on to something here. It might not be evidence that could be used but it was the links to a chain that he could break. The better he performed, and the closer he got to The Boy the better his chances were of cinching it all. If Taehyung could get his hands on hard physical evidence and manage to coordinate a raid at the most perfect moment…he could snare The Boy right in his net and destroy the future of Haedogje Pa.

Just thinking about it all was enough to give him chills.

That was why he had to stop crying in this expensive suite bathroom. That was why he needed to go back into the other room, sit back down at the desk, and start learning the files. Jungkook had so much more dirt on his men than his team did. It was going to be a challenge worthy of his fantastic memory to learn it all.

Jungkook finished securing his shirt buttons as he glanced at the black screen. Just a second ago he had been observing Taehyung on it, and he was confused by what he had seen. Why had Taehyung looked so frightened by the mention of Nam? He had seen his features slackening softly before tightening, had watched his lovely skin tone pale considerably. Had Taehyung had past experiences with the man, back when he had been working under Lim? Had Nam maybe said some harsh words to him that the day in Mapo-gu after the meeting had finished? Jungkook didn’t know but he didn’t like it. He already disliked Nam as it was, he didn’t really need more reasons to do so.

From behind him came a clattering sound and he turned to look over his shoulder. The first thing he saw was Wangbi lying on the settee like she owned it, and considering her size she more or less did. He wouldn’t fight with her, the cat had cost so much that she was worth more than most of the contents of the penthouse. She wasn’t exactly asleep for he could see those green eyes of hers staring right back at him, almost challenging him to try something. Her satellite ears twitched lazily. Of course Jimin had wanted a cat more wild animal than domesticated companion, but all things considered at least Wangbi was sweet. The same couldn’t be said of his associates. Jimin had once told him that he should bring her to meetings on a leash (the other man had brought her out in such fashion many times) because she was like a Rottweiler. Well, Jungkook thought that she was probably bigger than a fucking Rottweiler and certainly not as intimidating. Jimin was in the act of doing something that could only be described as ‘cleaning’. That was an amusing thought and so he stared at him for a few seconds before he realised that he actually was cleaning. Perhaps he should start by getting Wangbi off the furniture before she covered it all in golden and white fur.

“Babe, the maid comes tomorrow. What are you doing?”

“Cleaning up the mess you make,” Jimin replied from his position mostly under the bed. The covers were down on the side so he couldn’t see him under it, could only see Jimin’s bare lower legs and the slight lengths of his silken bathrobe. The hem barely covered his ass, which was bare of course. “Seen as you never do, darling.”

“I just told you, we have a maid. I don’t need to clean up.”

“Well I like cleanliness,” Jimin argued back, one leg giving a little twitch as he wriggled under the bed. He studied him for a moment before crossing the room to get to the bed. Jungkook hunkered down to grab hold of his lower legs, pulling him out with a nice hard tug. Jimin made a squeaky noise at this, dragged along the marble flooring until he was mostly out. His bathrobe rode up, black silk bunching up around his hips. Not as smooth or soft as his skin however. Then he rolled him onto his back. There was a slightly pink mark where his stomach had rubbed against the marble, going down from his lower ribs to his navel, and then down the smooth stretch to the base of his cock.

“What kind of good morning is this, hmm? Waking up to find you cleaning the house like some common person? A single mother trying to make the breadline with three work shifts?” Jungkook cocked his head as he looked down at him. “Cleaning is bad for you.”

“Bad?” Jimin let out a soft giggle and also cocked his head in perfect imitation. “What do you mean bad, darling?”

“Crawling around on the floor will make your knees rough,” Jungkook intoned as he reached down with one hand and stroked along his kneecap. “That would be bad. Also,” he lifted his hand to take his hand off his stomach, “calluses. Chapped skin. No.”

“Kookie, cleaning once every couple of days isn’t going to do anything,” Jimin said with a laugh. Jungkook traced his thumb around the knuckles of his hand slowly. “And besides, you weren’t woken up by that sight you were woken up by the sensation of my lips around your cock.”

“You’re better than any alarm clock, babe.”

“I’m better than most things,” Jimin agreed with a wide smile. “But you have to let me clean up because Woo will be here soon, remember? 10:30am.”

“That’s four hours from now.”

“Four hours, long enough for you to make breakfast and sort out all of your meetings, transactions, terminations. What can I do whilst you’re busy in your study? I can clean up, make the suite look presentable. Do you really want Woo walking in to see designer panties covered in still wet cum on the settee? The remains of a stoned fuck on the dining table? No, so go make breakfast and let me tidy it all up, darling.”

Jimin was right and that was what made him finally relent and leave him alone to clean up. He did have quite a lot of things to cramp into the four hours, and he just knew that he would have to go back to his workload after Woo’s meeting. The man had scheduled one in though he wasn’t sure why last night. It seemed like it had something to do with the business in Mapo-gu however. So Jungkook got back to his feet and wandered across the expansive suite to get to the kitchen.

There were three bedroom areas in the suite alone and yet Jimin always seemed to prefer the open bed on the ground-floor. The second bedroom was for filming purposes only, rigged up with countless cameras all around the bed, angled above and even up on the ceiling too. The third was on the first-floor along with a library-cum-office area. There was an open-roof floor for the summer on which a swimming pool and deck were built, and the bathroom area on the ground-floor was massive. Sometimes Jungkook wondered if it was all a little too much but then the sight of Jimin gently rocking in the hammock with Wangbi lying on him like a dog in the warm summer evening air, or the sight of blood sometimes pooling out on the marble brought him back to reality.

There was no such thing as too much, only too little.

Jungkook set about making himself breakfast without Jimin’s assistance for once. Not that Jimin really helped, he would just sit at the counter and take an occasional bite off the end of a fork or peel vegetables at the speed of death just because he knew that the sight would distract him; his fingers gripping the knife hilt and his thumb lightly pressed against the back of the blade. That dimple of soft skin on the metal, the glint of it in the lazy light from the window. So that meant that Jungkook was used to cooking on his own. He cracked quail eggs and had Jimin loudly telling him that he better not leave a mess in the kitchen too. Jungkook dribbled some of the liquid on the counter just to piss him off. He set about preparing the omelette and a side of rice, slicing up peppers and mushrooms as he did.

One quick breakfast later, Jimin trying his very hardest to irritate him by playing with him under the table, knocking their ankles together like a child in elementary school, Jungkook went upstairs to enter his office and start working. That meant reading every single word in every single email, playing back messages on answering machines multiple times, making note of any data that looked incorrect to his eyes and more. Sometimes Jungkook felt like a CEO, running a business more than his own men did. He had to do more mathematical equations than a fucking accountant most mornings. One time Jimin had entered his office and had eyed his screen before calling him a genius. He didn’t know about that, but he did know that running an empire required more brains than brawn.

Just like Taehyung.

Thinking about the tribute wasn’t the best idea, all things considered. It meant getting distracted from work in favour of letting Taehyung fill his mind. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Especially not when he thought about how he had looked on the system screen this morning. His wrinkled shirt and matted hair, enough dragged back to show a hint of his brow. Of how he had a habit of wetting his lips when he was clearly nervous about something. Yes, that was a nice thing to think of even when it meant Jungkook found himself staring at his screen and forgetting what exactly he had been looking at in the first place.

Eventually it was brought to his attention that Woo was in the apartment block, courtesy of Jimin calling out to him sweetly. Jungkook didn’t particularly want to go down the stairs to meet him but he had little choice. No one but Jimin was allowed more than a few feet inside of the penthouse. No one got any further than the table at the kitchen area, which was barely more than a dozen feet inside. Only his actors got further in, to the bedroom set aside just for their performances. So that meant that he had to leave the room and go down to meet him. Jungkook got to his feet, not bothering to turn the computer off because he would need it again soon enough. Then he crossed the room and stepped out onto the landing. Over the glass partition that served as a railing he could see down onto the ground-floor and there was Woo, standing respectfully by the door with his hands primly folded in front of him

“Sit down, Woo, Jimin, get the man a drink would you?”

“Yes, Master,” Jimin drawled. He did so in a way that was meant to sound sarcastic and he wondered if Woo had any idea that he called him that in bed often. Much too often. Woo probably had an idea, after all didn’t they all? As Jungkook descended the stairs he saw Jimin quickly moving down below to get over to the kitchen area. He heard him telling the other man that he should sit down at the table, friendly smile prepared on his face just like always. Jimin had good manners. Surprisingly he hadn’t needed to teach him them. Jimin was good with acting and so he was good at pretending too. He knew exactly when to break the smiles out to keep the atmosphere nice and calm.

“Anything to report?” Jungkook asked as he rounded the staircase and moved to go over to them both. Jimin was at the counter pouring out champagne for them both. It wasn’t the best of the stock but rather the section he liked to call the “guest” champagne. It was still expensive enough to be better than anything else his men could possibly drink but not the best. No, those bottles went to his parents or Jimin…or Taehyung in last night’s case.

“Nothing of great importance that cannot be in a report,” Woo replied as he slowly waited for him to reach the table and sit down first. As soon as Jungkook was seated the man copied his actions. “I’ve got nothing to report from Dongdaemun-gu, you’ll be seeing the locals tomorrow morning and I’m sure you already know about them.”

“I know I greatly dislike Jo Byungtae,” Jungkook retorted as Jimin placed the first glass down in front of the other man. Woo didn’t even look at his glass. “His little favouritism is bad for the district. I don’t care if the boy is his nephew he can’t place him above the rest of them. I think that I shall have to sort that little issue out.”

“No, what I have to report relates to the events of last night, Master Jeon.”

Jungkook reached out just as Jimin placed his own glass down, hand going to his hip and then slowly down to his ass. With his other hand he lifted his glass and held it in front of himself. What exactly did Woo mean by that he wondered. Did it have something to do with Taehyung? He had noted that the other man had looked rather…shaken up last night. Like he had been scared of something. Jungkook had thought that he had been nervous in his company, after the Do incident. But maybe it was something else, like the something Woo was going to tell him about. Jungkook gave Jimin a light squeeze which resulted in a giggle and a pat on the hand to get him to let go.

“Go on, Woo, I’m all ears,” he responded as he turned his head to watch the other man cross the large room. Jimin lounged on the bed beside Wangbi, stretched out almost like a cat himself. The animal would be getting fur all over the sheets again, just like always but how could he say no when he saw how much Jimin loved nuzzling his face against her warm belly of white fur?

“Upon collecting Kim from the Mapo-gu boarding house, as you requested, I ran into spot of trouble. In the form of Nam. I believe that Nam was attempting something close to a…correctional rape,” Woo explained as he shifted on his seat, crossing one leg over the other and plucking at the slight crease in the knee of his trousers. Jungkook studied him over the rim of his glass and for some reason he felt the most pressing urge to laugh at what he had just told him. Why, it was so absurd that he couldn’t really believe it. Nam, attempting to rape one of his recruits?

“I’m sorry, Woo,” Jungkook said after a few seconds, lowering the glass as he did. His lips lifted up in a smirk on one side because he was still so very confused. “Can you repeat that? I’m afraid I might just have misheard you.”

“Certainly, Master Jeon,” Woo said as he folded his hands on his knee. “When I entered the tribute lodgings yesterday evening I walked in to see Nam assaulting Kim. Do you want details?” Jungkook confirmed that he did with a vigorous nod. He wanted everything right this instant. Not just any recruit but Taehyung? “He had Kim pinned to the wall by his head and most of his trousers were down. Had I arrived perhaps a minute later then he would have been in the act of the rape itself. It was impeccably timed.” His fingers tightened around the flute and he could feel that the glass would not withstand much more pressure. “Nam didn’t argue with me but gave in when I told him to stop.”

“Why was he doing it in the first place?” Jungkook asked, managing to keep his voice at a surprisingly calm level. He knew that Woo would hear his barely reigned in black anger however. He could almost feel a muscle twitching in the side of his jaw.

“I believe, Master Jeon, that Kim refused his orders. Nam tried to lay a claim to bring him under his wing, despite everything. I believe this to be the case as told by witnesses. So when the tribute turned him down Nam felt the most pressing urge to display dominance to maintain his position as a superior. Rape is a tool of war, and very effective in controlling-”

“We’re not at war, Woo, we’re not a fucking guerrilla army,” Jungkook spat, the first throb of anger spiking in his head. Ah yes here it was once again, his old friend: blind rage. It was still morning and yet he could feel the tension rising, which was not a good sign for the rest of the day. His jaw and back teeth would be aching by the time he had sorted out all of this shit.

“I did hear some select words from Nam according to witnesses,” Woo said as he fixed his glasses. “Nam was clearly drunk but that doesn’t excuse his behaviour or language. He called you a “brat prince”.”

“That’s all?”

“And a “closeted homo”, Master Jeon.”

The silence that fell in the suite was so sudden that it was almost humorous. Across the room, lounged on the bed with Wangbi, Jimin had stopped singing under his breath. He could sense that he had gone as still as he had gone silent. He had likely stopped stroking the cat. Woo held his gaze steadily with his usual composure.

“That fucking cunt!” Jungkook threw the glass across the room and it shattered on the wall. The champagne flew everywhere in a spray, a fine mist of golden liquid hitting the walls and flooring with pattering sounds. He heard Jimin gasp in surprise. Woo didn’t even flinch at this. “That worthless piece of shit!” He jumped to his feet and the chair toppled backwards to hit the floor with a deafening clattering sound. This time Jimin let out a little cry of shock. “Get him in, get him to this building. Drag him if you have to. I need to see Nam this very day and I won’t take no as a fucking answer. Not even if he left the fucking country to hide in some jungle in the Mekong Delta, I want him today.”

“Nam is still in Seoul,” Woo explained. “I’ve had tabs since last night and he’s still very much in the net area.”

“Any of his men cause trouble, beat the shit out of them. Any of his men fight back, kill them,” Jungkook demanded, mere seconds away from slamming his fists down on the table. He could feel his fingers were curled up so tightly that they hurt. “I saw this coming months ago, Nam had been nothing but trouble in that district.”

“Your father seems to think otherwise, seen as he makes a profit.”

“His men make him a profit,” Jungkook argued back. “Replace him with another and we wouldn’t even notice his absence.” He knew what Woo was going to say even when he didn’t want to hear it. The man was going to tell him that his father would likely object to this, because it could affect their profit margins for Mapo-gu. Yet Jungkook had a better reason to support his decision. “Nam has done nothing but shit on Haedogje Pa for the best part of a year now. He brings in profit but he flagrantly disregards hierarchy. We cannot have Nam setting an example to the rest. If he can instill disrespect, others will follow.” Woo made a noise in agreement at this and Jungkook heard Jimin shifting to climb off the bed and move across the room. His bare feet padded off the marble as he went over to the kitchen area. “Nam can call me all kinds of shit, I don’t give a fuck about what he calls me. What I give a fuck about the fact that every insult he slings at me, he’s slinging at Haedogje Pa, and he’s slinging at my father.”

Jimin went around the counter and Jungkook saw him collecting something from by the sink. It was a roll of kitchen towels and then he was moving across the room to clean up the mess that he had just created. There were no cute smiles on show now, just an anxious expression. He hunkered down to start dabbing at the champagne. The white paper turned a colour rather closer to piss yellow than champagne gold.

“No man on this planet insults my father and lives to see another day,” Jungkook explained, anger still burning away but starting to turn into a steady flame rather than a rampant wildfire. “I will eradicate anyone that does to save him the trouble. Nam is replaceable, he’s just a district power and nothing more. You know men, Woo, and so do I. I know that I can replace him with someone else. Someone that won’t talk shit about my family, someone that can bring in a profit and not attack recruits to spite me.”

“You think that Nam acted on personal reasons?”

“…I do,” he agreed, eyes sliding over to look at Jimin for a moment before looking at him. “Do you have any issues with this, Woo?” The man thought this over for a moment, hands clasped on his knee and expression impossible to read like always. Jungkook found it rather irritating considering the current circumstances.

“No, Master Jeon,” he said after a minute of silence. “I too believe that Nam has overstepped many boundaries. He’s turned into a menace as opposed to an ally.” Woo paused before adding. “I believe that your father would fully support such a decision in light of circumstances.”

“Good, then get out of my sight,” Jungkook demanded, throwing one arm out as if to brush Woo out of the room. The man got to his feet and did his usual routine, fixing his jacket and glasses before turning on his heel and crossing the room. He watched him go and as soon as the door was closed shut behind him Jungkook righted his chair and sat back down in it. He didn’t sit so much as sink into it as he closed his eyes. The rattan back was hard and unyielding against his spine, and he reached up to place his hands on either side of his head.

“Kookie, I just cleaned up this morning,” Jimin whined, on his hands and knees as he collected shards together and dropped them in the wad of paper towels. Wangbi was sniffing around a puddle of champagne a few feet away. “I worked hard and you made a mess.”

“I thought you liked mess?” Jungkook retorted as he slowly rubbed his thumbs around his temples. Great, not even 11am and he already had a fucking headache to make the day even better.

“I like it when you make me into a mess,” Jimin explained, “not when you, ah-”

Jungkook opened his eyes and turned his head just in time to see him bringing his hand to his mouth. Jimin clamped his lips over a cut in the pad of his thumb instinctively. A look at the floor showed the shard he had grabbed too carelessly, the jagged edge curved like a shark tooth with a slight beading of blood on it. Jimin made a pained noise as he pulled his hand free, and the noise suddenly turned into a petulant whine.

“That hurt,” he said, as if that wasn’t obvious. His lower lip quivered and he looked like he might just start crying. Jungkook wouldn’t be surprised if he did, for despite many things the other man could be so very childish. “Stupid piece of shit glass.”

Jungkook got out of his seat and he shifted so that he could hunker down beside Jimin and grab hold of his wrist. He lifted it to inspect the wound. The slice was deep but clean and it would likely stop bleeding within a minute or two. But to Jimin’s eyes it probably looked like a river of blood, a slice as deep as Marianas Trench. Jungkook tracked the steady trail of blood down the side of his hand to see that it was edging close to his wrist, therefore close to his fingers too. A quick glance at his face showed that his eyes were indeed wet and that spoilt little pout that he so loved was still present.

“Do you want me to kiss it better?”

“Yes please, darling.”

Jungkook didn’t press his mouth against the wound first but rather lowered his head down to catch the bead of blood before it got any lower. He parted his lips and traced the track of blood up the side of his hand until he reached the glass slice. Then he pressed his mouth over the slice. He darted his tongue out to lap against the wound and Jimin made a breathy noise at the contact. Jungkook could taste his blood on his tongue, just as special as his perfume or his sweat or his cum. It was coppery, similar to the scent of bullets, and when he ended the kiss he saw that there was still some blood on his lips too. From where he had pressed his hand against them a moment ago.

“Does it still hurt?” Jungkook asked he shifted forward to kiss him. Jimin made a sound at this, a mmm as he opened his mouth and licked the blood out of the corner of his mouth. One hand was still wrapped around his wrist so he reached up to cup the other man’s cheek with the other before pulling his face away again. “All better?”

“Yes,” Jimin confirmed as he leaned his face into the palm of his hand. “Kookie?”

“Yes, babe?”

“What are you going to do to Nam?”

“It’s not what I’m going to do to him,” Jungkook explained, darting his tongue out to wet his lips and clean up any traces of his blood from his skin. “But what I’m going to have done to him.”

“Is he going to end up in a landfill? Or Han River?” Jimin asked as he lifted another shard of glass and placed it on the pile of damp towels. When he confirmed that it was so he smiled at him sweetly. “Good, I hate him.”

Jungkook knew that he did of course, because it had been through Nam that they had been introduced. The skin dealer had sent a group of workers his way like always to star in the films, a routine that they had both shared since Jungkook had gotten bored at the fresh age of fifteen and had decided that he wanted to venture into the pornography industry. Studio shot amateur styled, using men from his father’s stock of course. But when he had first laid eyes on Jimin several years along the line he had wanted him. Must like the Mitsubishi Dignity, much like his Beretta 92fs. He had wanted Jimin but Nam had gotten in the way. The man had offered him as an investment, a cut of the percentages from the production of the films in return for his services. Jungkook had refused and had instead taken him for free. He knew that this still pissed Nam off even though it had been several months since it had happened and the man had carried on making profit without Jimin.

That was why he had wanted Taehyung, why he had tried to attack him. Nam had seen his interest in him too and so he had wanted to ruin him to spite him for stealing Jimin. How very fucking petty.

“That bastard will regret ever being born,” Jungkook said as he stroked his cheek with his thumb.

It was exactly 6:32pm by the time that he received a call from Woo. The man told him that he had Nam in his possession and that he had him heading his way. Something to do with discussions about a business enterprise. Jungkook wondered if Nam saw right through it and he knew the truth. Whatever the case so long as he ended up in the building with him it didn’t matter. In those hours he just concentrated on sorting through everything that was required of him. Tomorrow morning he was to be in Dongdaemun-gu and he needed to be prepared. But he had also spent a little time watching over Taehyung on the apartment building surveillance system.

The sight he was to find was that of the tribute sitting at the desk. Taehyung had a rather peculiar habit of sitting with his legs either folded up in front of him, or cocked up on the seat so he could rest his chin on his knees. The files were all open, the computer was on, and he went from deep study of photographs to furious typing on the keyboard from time to time. He was working, that much was clear, working so much in fact that he stayed seated at the desk whilst he ate. The apartment was stocked with rather basic staples but now someone was using the room it would filled with better things. And the wardrobe too. Hell Taehyung was still sitting around in that wrinkled shirt and his underpants like a fucking college kid; scattering rice all over the desk in his haste to eat but refusing to take a break.

Yes, Jungkook was sure that he had chosen the right man for this job. The next few days would prove him right or wrong, but there was one thing he knew and it was this. He was never wrong, and he doubted that he would be this time.

So after finishing with his endless trove of emails and documents, files and data, Jungkook ordered a meal from the closest high class restaurant that always made filet mignon exactly how Jimin loved it. Dining out might have been an exquisite experience but that required following basic etiquette. Jungkook much preferred the food without the rules, seen as Jimin was mostly certainly not allowed to feed Wangbi meat right off the tines of his fork or spread fresh cream along his collarbones and dab it on his nose to lick it clean. What fun was dessert when eaten off plates?

When he was alerted of the fact that Nam was in the building Jungkook decided exactly how this was going to go down. His two favourite hired thugs were twins, making referring to them by surnames hard. Daewoo and Siwoo were a little scattered in the brains department but they were tough and they didn’t question, they obeyed. So Jungkook told them to follow him up, knowing that they both knew why. This was no time for champagne but something much stronger, something that required a nice thick glass. So Jungkook filled two square based glasses with whiskey and left them at the counter, pulling up a stool to wait for him. Even Jimin had a nice little part to play. He knew that Jimin wanted to join in too, wanted to be seen just piss Nam off: lounged on the bed across the suite in plain view in silken panties with a nice dish of strawberries to feast on. Jimin looked like a new god and it would remind Nam just how little he really meant in the grand schemes of things; his old stock living luxury right in front of him. Oh, Jimin would get such a kick out of it he might just break out the “bad” collar afterward.

The door opened without warning and in stepped Daewoo, all 6”4ft of him with his pug face. In behind him followed Nam who looked half a man in comparison, and then Siwoo was closing the door behind him before staying in place like a wall of meat rather than brick.

“Have a seat, Nam, we need to talk.” Jungkook gestured at the counter. Not the table. No, he wanted to be close to him at all times. He couldn’t see if Nam looked over at Jimin behind his shades but he probably did. After all it was hard to miss him. Daewoo crossed the room ahead of him to stand several feet away behind the kitchen counter. Nam must have figured out he had no choice for he sidled over to sit on the stool. Just a single one between them. Jungkook didn’t look at him. “So it came to my attention that you started some trouble at the recruitment lodgings last night?”

Nam froze beside him and Jungkook felt the most pressing urge to laugh. Did he think that he would mess around? No, this was business and there was no time for fucking around with important matters. Jungkook wasn’t going to cocktease him, he was going to fucking wreck him and Nam knew this fact.

“Did you?”

“Master Jeon, I-”

“Why don’t you call me what you called me last night, hmm? Brat Prince?” Jungkook lifted his glass and took just the slightest sip. The whiskey was hot on his tongue but not as hot as the anger in his breast. “Did you?”

“…Yes, yes I did cause trouble.”

“Tried to rape of my tributes now,” Jungkook sniffed and lifted one finger off the glass so he could point at him. Still didn’t look, not yet. “You know how I feel about rape, Nam. You tried to rape one of mine, not just any one but him.”

“Kim was disrespectful to me so-”

“You’re disrespectful to me, you crazy fucking bastard. Should I bend you over this counter and fuck you too, huh?”

“We could record it,” Jimin called sweetly from across the room. Siwoo laughed at this. Jungkook didn’t know if he found it funny or because it was Jimin. The idiot seemed to have a thing for Jimin.

“You know what I heard?” Jungkook asked as he twisted to look at him, the first time he had since Nam had entered the room. “I heard that you called me a closeted homo.”

Nam didn’t say a word as he stared at him. It was hard to read his expression with those fucking sunglasses on but he could tell that the man realised that he was fucked now. If only he had kept his hands to himself then he wouldn’t be in this situation. Well and truly fucked.

“Which is crazy because-”

“Master Jeon, I-”

“Let me finish, you dumb fuck.” The man shut up and so Jungkook lifted his glass and held it front of his lips. “Which is crazy because…” he took a deep sip to drain the glass, savouring it on his tongue as he did before swallowing, “when have I been closeted?”

Nam didn’t even have enough time to open his mouth before he dived off the stool seat and smashed the glass down right on the side of his head. The force of the bottom slamming down on the curve of his skull caused the glass to shatter but Jungkook let go just in time to save a large shard slicing his fingers open. The glass pieces flew everywhere and Nam fell off the stool to land in a crumpled mess on the flooring. Most men could handle a few punches before dropping but a hit like that would floor pretty much all. Whatever sized brain Nam had had probably bounced right off his skull like a rubber ball. The glass had sliced right into his scalp. The other glass and the mostly full bottle of whiskey had been knocked to the floor when he had fallen backwards and knocked them with a flailing arm. Yet another fucking mess to clean up because of him.

“Sorry about the mess, babe,” Jungkook said as he turned to look over at Jimin.

“It’s fine,” Jimin said as he waved a wrist at him, brushing it all off. He took a bite out of one of the strawberries without a single care. “But hurry up and get him out of here, I don’t want his blood on the marble. I’ll want the whole floor replacing rather than touch it. And Wangbi might try and lick it up like last time.”

“You heard him, get the fucker out of here and into the car. You know the location, right?”

“Yeah boss, abattoir on Mangwol-dong,” Daewoo confirmed as bent down and grabbed at Nam’s lower legs.

“Good, get him there and await my arrival, I have someone to collect.” Jungkook watched him heft him up like nothing more than a sack of rice onto his shoulder. Nam’s sunglasses were knocked free and landed on the floor by his feet. “Turn his pockets out, take whatever you want. Prepare him like the usual.” The twins left and he studied the puddle of whiskey before lifting his shoe up and stomping down hard on the man’s shades. They were crushed under his shoe heel and the lenses were turned into dust.

“Do you think he’ll do this?” Jimin asked as he watched him crush the glasses up. “What if he’s too scared? Nam attacked him, but not all victims want blood afterwards. Some just want to pretend it didn’t happen. What if the sight of Nam scares him, darling?”

“Haedogje Pa don’t have time for emotions,” Jungkook replied as he crossed the room to get to the dresser beside the bed. There, in the bottom drawer, was where he kept his gloves and his favourite blade, wrapped up in a nice fold of red damask silk. Jungkook peeled the corner back and retrieved the first glove, slipping it on and feeling the snug leather cinching around his fingers. “Taehyung will learn that in time. This will be the third act of violence witnessed. The first was Do which was just watching, the second was the assault which he was part of, and the third will be Nam. Expose most humans to violence and after a while, babe, it stops scaring them.”

“Hmm, just like me.” Jimin cocked his head to look down at him. Jungkook slipped his second glove on. He would have to remind Taehyung to grab his own pair. Some motels and hotels kept bibles in their dressing tables. In his apartment there were leather gloves. “You’ll have to reward him, remember.”

“Rewards for bad behaviour are very effective for future violence,” Jungkook agreed with a smile. He should know, after all his father had taken him to the best restaurant in the capital after his first murder. Even when he had felt a little nauseous, mostly Jungkook had been shaking in excitement rather than fear. “Pavlov himself would be proud.”

“Just don’t let Taehyung know he’s your puppy in this experiment. Most men don’t like being called dogs, darling.” The fact that Jimin understood his joke pleased him, for he was pretty damn certain that none of his men would have understood it.

“You’ll behave whilst I’m gone, won’t you?”

“My best behaviour,” Jimin agreed as he held a strawberry out for him. Jungkook opened his mouth and took a large bite. “No point in misbehaving if you’re not here to see it.”

“Save it for when I get back.”

Jungkook reached inside to collect the knife. It was black all over, even the blade itself was a rippling sheet of dark gunmetal, but when the light caught it it glinted like a diamond. It was currently hidden within the butterfly flick mechanism but when he pressed the switch with his thumb it would slip free, several sharp inches of killer cold steel. He had once asked Jimin if he would like a blade and the other man had asked him if they came in gold. Not the handle but the actual blade. The answer was no but Jungkook was pretty certain that he could commission one: one with a golden blade, white or maybe milky pink grip that just screamed Jimin.

“I can’t wait to meet him,” Jimin said as he placed the strawberry remains down and lifted his fingers to suck the slight dribble of juice off the side of his thumb, “and treat him.”

“You’re working tomorrow night, don’t forget,” Jungkook said as he got to his feet. “I’m sure that you can meet him afterwards.”

Jungkook left the room, shoving the knife into his jacket pocket as he did. The ride down the floor below them was so brief that he felt like he had just stepped inside the elevator when the doors opened again. So he crossed the slight door and rapped his knuckles on the door. He waited for a voice to call out from the other side but there was nothing. After maybe five seconds he heard a scraping sound saw the knob twisting however, because Taehyung had locked it last night of course. After what had happened with Nam he wasn’t at all surprised.

“Oh, Master Jeon.” Taehyung’s eyes widened rather comically wide at the sight of him standing there. Still in that wrinkled shirt, still unkempt like earlier. Seeing any other man in such a mess would have irritated him but he was willing to make an allowance for Taehyung. He had spent the entire day following his orders without a single word or complaint, and he hadn’t exactly had the greatest introduction to Haedogje Pa. “Good…good evening. Is this about the files?”

“It’s about something else, something more important.” Perhaps sensing his want to step inside Taehyung shifted and allowed him to step inside. He even bowed slightly as he pulled the door back. “Sit down.”

“OK, Master Jeon.” Taehyung closed the door and hastily moved to sit at the desk. He noted that he was barefoot. His shoes were still down in the entrance check-in. Jungkook crossed the room but didn’t stand close to him. Rather he kept a distance and ran his eyes around as he did.

“You checked over the files?”

“Yeah, Master Jeon, just a little left to check actually. I’ve been correlating info from the online records and accounts to check for any inconsistencies in facts to be certain that-” Taehyung paused suddenly and a look over at him showed that his cheeks had went a rather dusky shade of pink.

“Yes?” Jungkook raised an eyebrow at him. “Why did you stop?”

“Well I uh, Master Jeon, I was talking a lot of jargon shit and I’m sure you prefer to just hear the facts instead but…”

“But?”

“I was nervous, Master Jeon. I lose control of my tongue when I get nervous,” Taehyung explained, the corners of his lips lifting sheepishly before dropping again.

“Do I make you nervous, Taehyung?” Just like he had been waiting for that little tip of pink stuck out to wet his lips. “Don’t worry about jargon I understand jargon. It means that you understand it too, and that I haven’t made a mistake choosing you.”

“The files are accurate, but lacking in much data. I’ve checked all and I’m updating the online accounts with any information that wasn’t present but was in the files.” Taehyung explained. “By tomorrow morning I should have the accounts ready for future updates.”

“Planning on working all night?”

“There’s coffee,” Taehyung said, and Jungkook’s gaze shifted to look at the desk. Yes, he had detected the strong scent upon entering and now he could see the massive mug beside the computer. “And I must say that the files hold a great interest for me.”

“I’ll bet that Lim’s dirt was nothing on mine,” he retorted and the other man nodded eagerly at him. “Tell me, who in Mapo-gu would you imagine would be the best man to follow after Nam?” The other man went silent at this and didn’t give him a reply. “A man always in profit, a man with the closest to clean record we can find. Who?”

“Um, Master Jeon, can I ask a question?” Jungkook glanced across the room at him to see that Taehyung had hands folded neatly in his lap. He looked like he was trying to make himself as small as possible. It was a trend that he had noticed earlier upon saying the name Nam in his presence. He had seen the slight flinch on his face and now he was seeing the full reaction. Just the mention of the other man’s name was enough to make him shrink considerably. So he nodded and told him that he could. “Why’re you talking to me about Nuh…Nam like he can be…replaced?”

“Because I am replacing him,” Jungkook explained, feeling no need to try and be discreet about it all. “I want Nam gone this very evening and I need to know if we have a man capable of replacing him.”

“Guh-gone?” Taehyung’s eyes widened at this and he saw him shift back in the seat slightly. “I…well I guess that I…Master Jeon?”

“Don’t call me that,” he said, almost an order rather than a suggestion. “Not when it’s just the two of us. Call me Master Jeon when brothers are present and only then.”

“Jungkook,” Taehyung said in that same quiet voice. Jungkook realised that this was the first time that he had heard him say his name since meeting him and it was rather strange. Not unpleasant, but certainly strange. Only three people called him by his name: his father, his mother and Jimin. No one else. Except for now. “I could name a few associates but it might take a little time for me to…to sort through and find the perfect match.”

“Who are you thinking of right now?” Jungkook said as he snapped his fingers together. The action produced a brisk sound much like a snap of a twig. Taehyung’s eyes dropped to look at his hand and then back up at his face. The young man said that he was thinking of Kim. “Kim who? I must know a thousand fucking Kims.”

“Kim Minho,” Taehyung clarified before adding. “He’s worked for Haedogje Pa for six years. He’s situated in Mapo-gu right now, has been from the start so you wouldn’t need to relocate him. He’s statistically never dropped below profit margins and he’s…well he’s known to be a more friendlier man than Na-”

“Than that piece of shit, hardly a massive achievement.” Jungkook glanced over at the door again. “Experience? Loyalties?”

“Loyal to your father and to you. He’s got no connections to…him. He worked in brothels mostly, but he also has some trafficking experience I believe.”

“OK, fine we’ll give Kim Minho a chance and see what happens, I’ll make sure to keep tabs on him. If he fucks up we’ll just have to replace him too. Not a hard feat, my father has been through many replacements over the years.”

“I mean, if you give me a few minutes, Jungkook, I can-”

“No, that’s not an option right now. You need to come with me.” Taehyung stared at him with an expression that could only be described as sheer confusion. It was an expression that he was starting to get used to because it seemed to be on his face most of the time that he was in his company. “I need you to come with me, Taehyung, so get your ass out of the chair.”

Chapter Text

There were a pair of gloves in Jungkook’s hand. He had pulled them out of the bottom drawer in the dresser beside the bed. On the list of things that he had done today checking the house had not been one of them. Taehyung had looked in the bathroom, had checked a few cupboards earlier when hungry to see if there was food inside the apartment room. As for the dresser drawers, the wardrobe, things like that, he hadn’t even thought to check. Taehyung had assumed - wrongly so it would seem - that the place was empty. But now he knew otherwise. He had to admit that he had not seen it coming and he wondered if there were even weapons hidden away too. Then he recalled being searched before entering the block and he figured out that anything sharper than rather blunt cutlery was most certainly not allowed within the premises.

Jungkook was holding them out to him, his own pair on his hands. They were thick leather, the kind that made it look hard to bend the fingers whilst wearing. The other man’s gloves looked well-cared for, oiled but mostly certainly worn. The care gone into them couldn’t disguise the fact that they had been used often. He could see the slightest scuffs on the knuckles mostly, the black leather having faded slightly. It wasn’t hard to imagine where the marks had come from. The knuckles had very few uses beyond punching someone right in the fucking mouth and he guessed that Jungkook had knocked a few sets of teeth out with them. That was what took him by surprise mostly, because he hadn’t expected it.

Taehyung wasn’t stupid. He knew that Jungkook, much like Jeon, had people murdered for him. Men mostly, it was seen as a bit pathetic to murder women for gang circumstances. Prostitutes notwithstanding of course, they weren’t a part of the picture. Children were a likely victim too, that part he was unsure on. Like father like son, they both had victims to their names. But like his knowledge of Jeon he had assumed that Jungkook would simply organise and perhaps watch the murders. To participate in them? It was enough to make him feel a little numb. Why was he thinking about murder? Maybe this had nothing to do with murder? Maybe this was something else entirely and he was just assuming it to be the case.

But Jungkook had mentioned getting rid of Nam and now he was holding out a pair of gloves. If that didn’t seem coincidental then Taehyung would call himself a bitch in front of his own father.

Taehyung couldn’t seem to breathe. Behind him, still turned on and waiting for attention, was one of the computers. He just wanted to spin back around and carry on using it. He could just immerse himself back into the files, the words and photographs and shit, and forget about reality for several hours just like earlier. When he dived right into Haedogje Pa accounts he could ignore all of it, what was happening around him. The gang, the drugs and sex slaves being passed around like cigarettes behind the gym building in high school. Death and attempted rapes. Taehyung could shut it out, could pretend that nothing bad was happening at all. It was just like being back at the department minus Hoseok’s shitty jokes and the pleasant scent of Sungah’s perfume every morning.

It was like being safe but he knew that wasn’t the case.

Taehyung reached up slowly to take the gloves off him. He eyed them and wondered if they would even fit. As he tried to fumble the first one on he asked Jungkook what he needed them for. The other man responded to this by grabbing his arm just above the elbow and firmly pulling him to his feet. Taehyung didn’t even flinch at this because he was starting to figure out that Jungkook was a physical person. Probably came with his upbringing. He felt no need to be polite, grabbing an arm to make someone follow him was much more effective than word prompts.

“Wet work.”

Taehyung didn’t need an explanation for that. He knew exactly what he was alluding to. Wet work. The liquid in particular being something a little thicker and trickier to clean up than water of course. Perhaps his expression shifted at this for Jungkook’s lips lifted on one side in a rather wry manner. Taehyung knew that he had to perfect a mask and yet it was hard to do so. All of his mirror antics were rather pointless, practising expressions and phrases and posing to make himself feel more comfortable in his own skin. Apparently he was no better now than he had been three months ago.

“Lim really kept you sheltered,” Jungkook replied as he guided him across the room towards the door. “But I suppose you didn’t need to see the filth, you just needed to keep track of it all.”

“Yeah, Jungkook,” he replied, “that’s what happened.”

He still felt weird saying his name like this even when he had said it before. In the past, in the department when talking to the rest of the team it was nothing; completely normal. But saying it to him, to his face, was something else. Taehyung felt the irrational fear that he would get mad at him even though he had told him that he could call him by his name. But Taehyung had seen how very little it could take to have him turn without warning, and that meant he had to be very very careful. And maybe, just maybe he was feeling something like shock at being in his presence still. Taehyung supposed that it was a little like meeting a celebrity, except so much more. It wasn’t a fleeting moment in a concert, a signing, in a store or on the street. It was a constant and foreseeable situation, yet that didn’t make him any less terrified and awed. He was in the same room as the second most wanted man in the capital and country. He was holding onto his arm . If that wasn’t something to find shocking then he didn’t know what was.

“You won’t be sheltered around me,” Jungkook retorted as he opened the door and pulled him across the hallway to the elevator. “In any meaning of the word.” He pressed the button with a hard jab of his thumb. Taehyung waited to see if he would let go of his arm, but he didn’t. After a few seconds they were stepping inside the carriage and Taehyung felt the fine carpet pile against the soles of his feet. He was finally able to slip the other glove on, even with Jungkook’s hand firmly around his elbow.

“Jungkook? What exactly is going on?”

“What’s going on, Taehyung, is that you’re getting another lesson in what it means to be a part of Haedogje Pa. You already know the rules, the members. You’ve seen what happens to men that piss me off because they fuck with business. Now you’re going to see what happens to men that just piss me off,” Jungkook explained as he studied the metal doors in front of them. Taehyung studied his profile before dropping his eyes as he got the glove on properly. A tight fit but it would suffice. “You might think that Haedogje Pa morals are not clean, are not what other men would think of as honourable.”

“Jungkook, I-”

“You’re absolutely fucking right, that’s the truth,” the young man carried on over him. Taehyung had been pretty prepared to argue against this, rather foolishly it seemed. “Fuck cleanliness, fuck honour. You try and clean one mess up in this fucking cesspool of a city and you make ten more. It’s not about cleanliness, it’s about the option that gets rid of most of the shit. As for honour well, that’s a rather tricky matter wouldn’t you agree. Some people think suicide is honourable. Some think murdering raped women is honourable. Quite a lot of people think war is honourable. The men and women, they get medals and parades. Honour is something of a grey area, yes?”

“Yeah…yeah it’s pretty fucking grey, Jungkook.”

“Honour and cleanliness, that applied to business only. Outside of business that shit doesn’t matter. Murder doesn’t have a valid excuse, and I feel no need to give one. What I’m going to teach you, Taehyung…” Jungkook finally let go of his arm and he turned to look at him. “Is how to commit cold blooded murder.”

Taehyung held his gaze unblinkingly but inside, inside he was a mess. His brain was a mess of thoughts and he couldn’t seem to pull a single one to the front. His mind felt like the static buzz of a dead TV channel and he didn’t know if he was supposed to keep his silence or say something. Before he could even attempt it the carriage doors slid open and Jungkook stepped outside. He had no choice but to follow after him. As he stepped across the entrance area one of the bouncers ducked to retrieve something from under the check-in counter. It was the cardboard tray with his shoes in of course. Another man standing in front of the doors held out keys for Jungkook. Taehyung just grabbed his shoes and hastily followed the young man out of the building. There was plenty enough time to put them on inside the car he knew they would be climbing into.

Except the car parked against the curb was not the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Not at all. It was a sleek black beauty, that much he could see. There were twin headlights, long slanted cats eyes set above rounded ones on either side of the grille. He could see the unmistakable emblem for Mitsubishi stamped on the grille and the hood curved up to a nice roof before flaring out to a soft smooth boot. The tires were considerably eye catching with the glinting hubcaps and there was a thin stretch of chrome along the bottom below the doors and framing the windows.

Taehyung darted forward to open the door for him, the back door of course. Yet Jungkook just ignored him and opened the driver-seat. He turned to look at him rather dumbly and the other man laughed.

“Chauffeurs aren’t at beck and call for murder, Taehyung, only when notified in advance. My man certainly doesn’t know about this. Maybe my father does, depends on how busy his day is. Get in. We have someone waiting for us and I don’t like tardiness.”

Taehyung went around the back and climb into the passenger-seat, bare feet brushing on the asphalt as he did. He sat inside and slammed the door shut, leaning forward to get his shoes on as fast as he could. The other door slammed shut as he did, the car shifting slightly from Jungkook’s weight as he got inside. He already looked a mess without his jacket, he didn’t need to be seen barefoot too. As soon as he had managed to knot them up with the awkward gloves on he sat upright again and glanced around the dashboard. There were so many digital screens close to the wheel and he saw something that looked like a camera; one for assisted parking from what he could tell. Everything was black and a glance up in the rear-view mirror showed the back behind the glass partition was the exact same.

“Jungkook?”

“You’re full of questions, aren’t you?”

“Sorry I-” But Jungkook gently waved his hand as he shifted to slip the keys into the ignition. Brushing his apologies away without a care. “Are you going to…to murder Nam?”

“We’re going to murder Nam,” he explained as he twisted them to start the engine and dropped the clutch. “Murder is often a joint cooperation, from the actual act to the disposal of remains.”

“Wuh…why’re you murdering Nam?”

“He pissed me off,” Jungkook said with a rather lazy shrug of his shoulders. The engine purred to life and then fell into a soft purr as he twisted the wheel and pulled away from the curb and into the road. “We have a man to replace him, Nam really doesn’t matter any more.”

Taehyung could have pulled a name out at random. He could have picked a man not suited for the job at all, one that would have caused a lot of trouble for Haedogje Pa and yet he had given Jungkook the name of a man that would actually manage to handle his new position incredibly well if the files on him were in any way accurate. He was still trying to figure out why exactly he had done so but it had felt like the right choice to make at the time. After all, this wasn’t a simple game. It was his life now and making a mistake like that could be bad for him. Right now Taehyung was affected by every single thing that happened in Haedogje Pa. If he tried to sabotage it, he would suffer too. So that was why he had picked a man with a track record in illegal sex slavery and human trafficking and had given him a fucking promotion.

Just another thing to add onto the ever growing list of bad shit that he was going to help be responsible for. And apparently he was going to help murder a man now.

His bucket list was shrinking every passing day.

“That’s why you’re going to kill him?”

“…Nam stepped out of line one too many times. I can be patient when I want to be, Nam is a perfect example. I gave him a few chances and he repaid me by fucking up every single time.” Taehyung had been looking out of the front window and at his words he spared a glance over at Jungkook. He was staring out the front window too, eyes not leaving the road once. “I said that I would give him a single chance after the last time and I did. Look what happened last night. You should know.”

He gnawed on his lower lip as he thought the implications of his words over. Jungkook had stepped up because of what Nam had done to him, but for what reason? Nam had spat all over his name, over Haedogje Pa and the other men. He had said some pretty nasty shit about him. It made perfect sense that Jungkook would want him gone for his words alone, but was that really the only reason? Was it feasible to think that he had done so because the man had attacked him? It might just be the case but Taehyung had a feeling it was because Nam had stepped over a line and nothing more. The man had touched something that he wasn’t supposed to, he had ignored the big red sticker that claimed “this belongs to The Boy!” and that was what this was. It wasn’t about him , it was more the concept of him. The object rather than the human.

“Don’t think about him. As of now, no more questions about that fucker.”

The car fell silent and Taehyung turned his attention to the window instead. There wasn’t much on offer and so that meant falling victim to his own thoughts. He didn’t like the idea of that happening because his thoughts were pretty fucked up at the current moment. He didn’t know how long they were going to be stuck in the car for and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. He risked a quick look back over at Jungkook, trying to gauge his patience levels.

“Jungkook?” He saw the other man’s lips twitch at this, not down but rather up before settling back to neutral. That was a good sign, he was still amused by his incessant questions it would seem. “This is a new car. Woo picked me up in an S-Class yesterday evening.”

“Yes, that’s because that’s Woo’s car now.”

“Oh, I thought that it was yours,” Taehyung trailed off in a quiet voice. No, he didn’t think, he knew. But that didn’t seem to be the case anymore. No, he had upgraded. “This car’s nicer…” he said as he reached down to stroke the leather seat. Jungkook’s gaze shifted to look down at the sound the gloves made and then back up at the road.

“Taehyung, did Lim practice such things as small talk?” Sensing that he could perhaps risk a little more before he risked pissing him off Taehyung nodded and told him that he had. “Hmm, I can’t say that my men practise that.”

“Do…do you want me to shut the fuck up?” Taehyung asked as he lifted his gaze from the seat to look at him. But Jungkook shook his head. “I uh…I guess that working with Woo all day means no small talk.”

“Woo lives, breathes, eats, sleeps business. I’m pretty certain that he would fuck it if he could. Sometimes I wonder if he sleeps in a fucking suit.”

Taehyung realised that this might be one of the few times that Jungkook actually got to talk about things without business looming over his head, or the shadow of his father. Maybe he ranted often to the man he was pretty certain that he had seen in the background of his penthouse suite from this morning, or maybe not. All he did know was that was talking to him like he wasn’t just some new blood, some tribute. Was that a good sign? He was pretty fucking certain that it was.

“He could remove his tie and use it as an eye mask.”

“Sometimes I want to throttle him with that fucking thing,” Jungkook muttered and he saw his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “He makes me look like a child in most meetings.”

“I’m sure that your men don’t see that way. It would be a big fucking mistake to make.”

“Real fucking big.”

“I mean, when you step into a room all eyes are on you and you alone,” Taehyung continued, shifting in the seat slightly. “That’s gotta be a burden. Maybe it’s kinda good that Woo alleviates that sometimes?” Jungkook made a noise at this, maybe in agreement or maybe just because he couldn’t be bothered to give him a proper answer. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“I couldn’t have all of those eyes on me like that. I’d choke up, fuck up. That’s way too much pressure for me, Jungkook. None of your men could handle it either, they think they can be they can’t. Everyone thinks they could rule; be a president or a CEO or a leader or shit, but once you put ‘em in a power position it’s a different matter. Most of ‘em just think about what they want and what they should change, they don’t think about the rest. But you’ve gotta think about the rest.”

“I’ve got to think about everything.”

“Exactly, so Woo can make you look like a fucking baby but it’s not true. Anyone that thinks it is, they’re dumb shits.”

Taehyung stopped talking and looked out of the window and the car fell silent for a moment. He was hoping that his impassioned words had left an effect on Jungkook, had made him sound loyal and trustworthy and certainly not like a rat. There was a chance that he sounded sycophantic but he doubted that Jungkook would mind. After all the young man had legions of ass lickers all over the capital. What was one more on top? To stay on Jungkook’s good side would require more than silence and occasional muttered words, he was going to have to assume a role and stick with it. Right now his current role seemed trapped between fervent fanboy and grateful damsel in distress willing to put out. He wondered which one Jungkook would assume correct.

“You’ll have to get used to all eyes on you, Taehyung,” Jungkook said to eventually break the silence. “Haedogje Pa men don’t hide in the shadows, and one like you…well, you’re going to be seen very often.”

“Can I ask why, Jungkook?” Taehyung turned his head to study him again.

“It’s rather simple, Taehyung. You’re a tribute, you’re new to Haedogje Pa and your loyalties are yet to be tainted by years and years of servitude. All my other men have reasons, have ‘friendships’ and other pathetic excuses. You don’t. In terms of trust…simply a tribute is the best selection of choice. My father taught me that a stranger is oftentimes more safer than a friend.”

“Woo?”

“Woo is loyal to my father,” Jungkook replied, not furthering his explanation for this answer. A man loyal to his father would pick the other man over him, should a reason arise. The young man didn’t want to speculate that he might just stab his own father in the back but there was a chance and he clearly wanted to be prepared in advance.

“OK, but I worked for Lim.”

“As a friend or a sheep?”

Taehyung hesitated at the question. What exactly was Lim to him? It seemed like an obvious answer to say that the man was his friend but he wasn’t, not really. The informant had simply been nothing more than a colleague he had been forced to work with. In his normal life Taehyung would have never even approached the man, so their connection was most certainly not friendship. Just business, and business that Jungkook could most certainly not learn about.

“As a sheep,” he finally settled on replying. This answer seemed to please Jungkook immensely. “I guess I was a sheep.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a sheep, Taehyung,” Jungkook replied as he twisted the wheel smoothly. The sight out of the window looked strange to his eyes, the headlights casting beams across a wide open and rather desolate street. “Even a sheep can turn out to be a wolf.”

It was only when the car pulled up outside a building did he remember what they were here for. Having been distracted by the light conversation (that had actually gotten rather heavy in his opinion) all thoughts about Nam and death had almost crept right to the back of his mind but now…now he remembered. So Taehyung opened his door to climb out, soles of his shoes stepping down on gritty concrete.

The area was an abandoned stretch of lot and what looked like warehouses to his eyes. Most of the buildings were low solid blocks of concrete with shutters and no windows. The ones that did have them were hidden behind mesh metal screens. He didn’t know where they were for he had never stepped foot in the area but he knew one thing. He could smell water, briny water. He was also certain that he could hear the drone of either boat horns or distant lorries denoting an expressway. Jungkook slammed his own door shut and he went around the front of the car to get closer to him. Taehyung took that as a cue to follow him and he did past several block buildings before coming to a stop in front of one.

“Taehyung,” Jungkook said in a low voice as he hunkered down to grab the shutter. His gloves rubbed against the steel with a rustling sound. “You’re going to see something inside that might scare you, but a true Haedogje Pa man doesn’t let fear get to him.” Taehyung nodded and took a deep breath to try and steel himself. He even lifted his shoulders to look tougher as his breath plumed out on the cold air. “Once we step inside, you must follow orders. I heard that you have a bit of a streak in you for refusing orders.” He bit his lower lip at this, thinking about the Nam incident all over again. “I’m going to teach you, so you have to follow.”

“OK, OK, Master Jeon, I understand.”

“…Good.” Jungkook wrenched the shutter up as he stood upright. With his free hand he gestured for him to step inside first and so he did. At first Taehyung was aware of the darkness in the room, pitch black darkness that made him feel disorientated and a little frightened. The young man let go of the shutter so it hit the floor with a deafening metallic sound, making him jump. He had to bite his tongue to stop a squeak from escaping his mouth. “Hit the lights, let’s see the fucker.”

There was a loud sound like a punch and then a hissing fizz as a light button was hit by someone. A series of white lights dropped from a fixture overhead like spotlight beams and suddenly he could see the room perfectly. Concrete walls and flooring, high ceiling above. There was a strange scent in the air, rusty and rather foul, and Taehyung’s eyes settled on the sight of metal chains dangling just a few feet away. There were massive curved hooks on the end as long as his hands in length, gleaming wicked hooks with one use. To hang carcasses on. They were in a abattoir, that explained the smell. Taehyung felt Jungkook’s hand snagging his arm to lead him away from the chains and instead steer him in the direction of a huddle of bodies.

“Is he awake?” Jungkook asked.

“Kinda,” another man replied. Taehyung saw two massive men, unmistakably twins because they had the same flat face. One twin had darker hair and the other had brassy blond, the shaved sides black stubble. “He’ll come around soon enough, boss.”

“Wakey wakey, you son of a bitch!” Jungkook goaded before dropping to his knees in front of a man. Taehyung saw that he was in a state of undress, not naked but minus his trousers and underwear and shoes. There was a thick binding of rope around his ankles and this had been used to help suspend him several feet off the ground. That meant that the only way to get eye level was to hunker down like Jungkook, otherwise the sight in front of their eyes was that of his splayed genitals. Not a pleasant sight at all. Jungkook cocked his arm back and delivered a slap that was like a whip crack in the silence of the slaughterhouse. It was enough to make him wince at the sight of it, the sight of the man’s head being knocked back from the blow. It made him jerk involuntarily and the chain moved with him, so he swung like a gentle pendulum.

That was when it hit Taehyung who he was looking at. Upside down it was hard to make out his face, especially considering the missing shades and the busted lips and bruises appearing on his face. But when the man let out a weak groan and shifted it was startlingly obvious who he was looking at.

Nam was hanging from a meat hook in front of him.

“Did you try and cause trouble with Daewoo and Siwoo, hmm?” Jungkook asked as he reached over, back of his hand caressing across his cheek.

“Luh...like I’d fuck with those retards.” It was hard for Nam to speak, all things considered and yet he still managed to do so just to piss them all off.

“Oh? Says the man hanging upside down with his cock out. Who looks like a retard now, hmm?” Jungkook grabbed his cheeks in one hand, in a tight vice so that he could squeeze hard. “Don’t talk shit about my men, you fucker. You’re not one of mine now, you know what that makes you? A bitch? Isn’t that funny?” He lifted his free hand to gesture over at him and Taehyung studied his gloved hand. “It’s a bitch eat bitch world and a tribute is more important than you now. Isn’t that fucking funny?”

Taehyung’s stomach was cold, much too cold. It felt like the liquid had turned to ice and it was spreading through the rest of his body too; freezing him. He should have expected this but the sight still scared him. He felt like he had been plunged into an ice bath and he was aware of the fact that his heart wasn’t racing but rather going much too slow in his chest.

Jungkook got to his feet and he reached over to grab the rope around his ankles. He was looking down at the man with an expression that could only be described as black hatred. Seeing the expression didn’t make Taehyung feel better one bit, for he wondered just how long it would be until he saw it aimed his way. It was probably the last thing that he would ever see.

“Taehyung, I’ll assume that your knowledge on matters pertaining to violence are rather low. Have you ever heard of a ‘Colombian Necktie’?” Taehyung couldn’t stop staring at Nam’s bruised face but he managed to mutter something that sounded like a disagreement. He had heard of it and seen it over the last few months of department work, but he wasn’t going to tell Jungkook that. “A lot of people are mistaken about it, about the origins and the true form. It’s not about drugs, it’s not about gangs. No, the act was committed as an act of political violence to scare dissidents. That’s mistake number one. Mistake number two is the form. Yes, you slit the victim’s throat but you do not feed the tongue through.” Nam had started making noises at this and so the twins moved to grab his legs and still him. “That’s not true, that’s a tacky ripoff. I hate ripoffs, I want the originals. I don’t want a copy of The Mona Lisa I want The fucking Mona Lisa. So today, you’re going to help me create art, Taehyung.”

“Wuh-what’s the original, Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked as he lifted his gaze to look at him. Jungkook’s lips lifted in a grin.

“Step one: castration. Step two: slit the throat. Step three: insert the cock up into the mouth.” Oh now Nam was starting to make noise, starting to wriggle on the hook. “It’s just like dancing, follow the steps and everything will be fine.” Taehyung was staring at him dumbly and so he moved closer to him.

“I don’t- I don’t think I can-” the young man reached over to press his hand on the back of his neck, a sign for him to stay still and stop talking but his mouth had ran off on him again and he couldn’t stop himself from stuttering.

“Think about what he tried to do to you,” Jungkook talked over to his bumbling nonsense, hand still cupped on the back of his neck to keep him trapped in place. Taehyung could only really shift his eyes off his face and stare across the abattoir instead. That didn’t help him feel much better, seen as he could see the dangling meat hooks coming down from the ceiling when he did. They glinted in the low lighting and he felt his nausea starting to rise again. “Think about what he would have done if he had been given the chance.”

“I nuh-know but I don’t-”

“He’s done it before, countless times. To others just like you and he’ll keep doing it. That’s why you need to do this. Remember what you said in the meeting? What’s the ultimate sign of loyalty, Taehyung?”

“To kuh-kill another buh-brother for Haedoh-dogje Pa buh-buh-buh-”

Jungkook let go of his neck and instead grabbed hold of his face in both hands, further locking him in place. Despite the cold coming from the warehouse his leather gloves were warm on his skin, just like his palms would be through the material. His eyes were staring right into his and yet Taehyung saw no anger in them. There was something in the depths, he just couldn’t seem figure out what it was. It was clear however that he wasn’t going to be able to back out of this. He was going to have to do what Jungkook told him.

“Taehyung, whatever you did before joining Haedogje Pa, whatever you did or thought or wanted. That’s got to change,” Jungkook said in a stern voice. Listening to him Taehyung was torn between emotions. On one hand he sounded like a teacher scolding an elementary student. On the other he was so very much Namjoon that it was unsettling. “You work for me now, for us. So when I tell you that I want you to do something, I want you to do it. There’s no choice in the matter.”

“I kuh-I know, Master Jeon.”

“So do it.”

“Cuh-can’t I just cuh-cut his throat instead? Does it have to be…?” Taehyung saw the look in Jungkook’s eyes and he knew that he was already edging dangerously close to stepping over his boundaries. There were two men in the room with them right now, two Haedogje Pa men. He couldn’t go against Jungkook’s wishes without it being highly disrespectful, and that meant that he had to do what he had asked of him. So he took a deep breath and let it out slowly instead, pluming out into the cold air between their faces. “What if I fuh-fuck it up?”

“You won’t, because I’m going to teach you,” Jungkook explained in that same fashion. His thumb moved ever so slightly along his cheekbone as he spoke, not exactly a stroke but close to it. “This is a great privilege. Kill for me and I’ll kill for you. Kill for me and I owe you, it means that I reward you.” He dragged the word out and Taehyung watched his lips move as did; the soft movements and that slight of tongue and teeth. “Good men are rewarded, Taehyung, and I want to reward you. But bad men…” Jungkook looked over his shoulder at Nam, hanging like a slab of meat.

“I’m sorry, Master Jeon. I’ll do wuh…what you asked of me.”

“Good,” Jungkook said and his lips lifted in a wide smile: a sign of pure contentment. He let go of his face with one hand and reached up to pat at the back of his head. Taehyung felt his fingers against his hair, ruffling and lightly tugging as he patted his head. “Good, Taehyung.”

Taehyung wished that he could just shut his eyes and pretend that this wasn’t even happening but he couldn’t. This was reality and he had no choice. The longer he delayed the more at risk he put himself. And the more at risk he was the more chances were that he would fuck up or worse. He could be killed for disrespect or insubordination. It was his life right now, his life and his job, or it was Nam’s. His life, or the life of the man that had tried to attack him.

Jungkook reached down to pull something out of his jacket pocket and he saw that it was a black object. Plastic? It was hard to tell but when the young man pressed his thumb down to slide up a mechanism he figured out what it was. It was a knife, a butterfly knife, for the plastic snapped open and Jungkook moved his wrist in two fast jerks to pop the blade free and snap both handles in place. Taehyung stared at the blade and he saw the light from the ceiling playing off it, making it gleam. It would be cold, icy cold and razor sharp. Then the handle was being forced into his hand and he gripped hold of it tightly.

“Step one,” Jungkook said as he wrapped his hand around the handle, “the removal.”

Even with gloves Taehyung didn’t think there was a thick enough layer between him and Nam’s cock. Taking it in his hand he felt a surge of disgust and a bitter taste flooded his mouth, acid bitter. In his other hand gripped tightly there was the butterfly knife. Wickedly sharp, it had a rather thin blade. He knew that that meant it would take him some effort to do this, and that made him suddenly detach. It was strange being there but not being there at the same time. Taehyung felt like he was inside his body but he wasn’t controlling it. Rather he was trapped somewhere behind his eyes watching it all like a spectator. These were his hands and yet he wasn’t controlling them. Jungkook was. This was his body but his limbs were being pulled like puppet strings. Wasn’t this everything that Namjoon and Lim had taught him, becoming another person? Playing a part to perfection.

“Keep hold tightly, Taehyung,” Jungkook instructed as he moved to stand right behind him. “Keep hold and don’t let go. Remember this is about presentation. It’s a form of art. Smooth and clean removal.” Taehyung felt his breath against his neck, hot and slightly ticklish but he didn’t shift, didn’t squirm. He just stared at the splayed sight of Nam’s genitals in front of him.

“Master Jeon?”

“Yes, Taehyung?” He was more than certain he felt his hand slowly moving to settle on his waist. He might just be wrong but there was a weight there that hadn’t been there a moment ago, a weight that felt like his hand. Why not? He had his mouth so close to his neck that he could feel his breath, could almost feel his lips on his skin.

“Will he scream?”

“Yes,” Jungkook replied without hesitation. “He will scream like a baby that just shit itself until you finish the piece. So please, start.”

It was then that Nam decided that it was high time to try and cause trouble. As a result of his blood rushing to his head when he started screaming his face didn’t exactly flush with colour. It was already red, veins pulsing and visible through his skin from the pressure of his blood. As a result his shouting was also rather hoarse and forced, in a horrible way that seemed to hint that he might rupture his vocal cords if he made too much noise. All he really could do was scream, seen as he couldn’t move with his legs pinned in place by the two thugs. When Taehyung pressed the blade lightly against the base of his cock Nam gave another almighty yell.

This was the man that would have raped him had he been able to. This was the man that had mere children stolen and smuggled into the country as sex slaves. This man was a monster, but did this make what he was doing righteous? Taehyung knew that it wasn’t, that his act was just as sinful but at least he had no choice. Nam had had many and he had used them all up. And now…now was all his own doing, his comeuppance for it all.

Taehyung didn’t just apply pressure with the blade but rather moved his wrist as he did. At first it was hard to figure out what he had to do but after three attempts at slices he figured it out. He had to saw, much like one would saw at a chunk of meat with a steak knife. The angle was wrong, the sawing motion side to side rather than front to back, but he managed to find the balance. With the first cuts came the blood of course, but not a great deal of it. That was all pooled body in his upper body instead. Taehyung felt the blade slipping in the sudden but rather weak gush of blood and so he had to keep a tight grip on the hilt. He didn’t want to drop it and piss off Jungkook. It was his blade, and dropping it would be very disrespectful.

Oh Nam just starting screaming when he got the blade snagged nice and deep in the slice and started the sawing motion properly. Taehyung just gritted his teeth in a grimace as he carried on. There wasn’t much resistance against the blade, he was cutting through meat after all. Meat with nothing more than skin and veins and little tubes rather than fat and muscle. Under the other man’s cries of pain he couldn’t hear if there was any sound, perhaps a gristly wet noise as the blade cut. That was a blessing he supposed. It was so easy to just block out the screams if he concentrated on the sawing motion like a mantra - left right, left right, and the sensation of Jungkook’s uneven breath on his throat.

There was rivulets of blood running down to soak into the bunched up ends of Nam’s shirt. He could feel it against his fingers through the gloves, could smell it along with the hideous stench of bile. Nam had gagged and dribbled a puddle of it all over the concrete floor and luckily not on his shoes. Taehyung could sense that he was nearly finished because the effort was no longer hard but rather smooth. It took a few more seconds of frantic sawing before the blade sliced through the thin skin at the front and the blade severed the man’s cock completely.

Taehyung had it in his hand, he was holding another man’s cock on his hand and it wasn’t even attached to a body.

“Good work, Taehyung,” Jungkook breathed out against his neck. He watched him reach over with his free hand to touch the bloody stump. It looked like he was stroking the wound, to check if it was clean and smooth. “Very good work. I told you that you could do it, didn’t it?”

Taehyung didn’t reply. He was much too distracted staring at the sight of Jungkook’s gloved fingers stroking the raw stump. The stump that he had just created. When Jungkook dug his thumb down hard into the red mess Nam let out another cracked scream and he could feel Jungkook laughing. Not only his breath on his neck but because his chest was against his back, so he felt the slight vibrations of his body too.

That was part one finished, now what came next? It couldn’t be worse than that, or at least Taehyung didn’t think that it could.

“Let me show you the best way to slit a man’s throat,” Jungkook explained as he dropped to hunker down in front of man’s sobbing and gasping face. “A clean cut can be hard to achieve without some practice, the windpipe can cause the blade to stick.” Taehyung hunkered down beside him, still distant and not really processing things beyond breathing and blinking. In his left hand he was still holding Nam’s fucking cock and in the right was the knife. “Now you see, you need a good angle first.” Jungkook seized hold of the man’s greased hair in his left hand, pushing his head back to expose his throat to him. “You will likely be tempted to just slash out and hope to do damage but don’t. The key to killing is to take time to ensure you do it right. Like so.”

Jungkook retrieved the knife out of his right hand and he gripped it sure and tight in his hand. Taehyung watched as he hovered the blade over the side of the man’s throat. What happened next was quick and smooth, a sign of much experience. Jungkook angled the blade so that he could press the side against his throat and then he pressed down and dragged his wrist across. As the blade parted flesh and arteries it turned slightly so that the pointed tip started tearing through his skin. As a result it ribboned his windpipe like a sheet of paper. Blood didn’t gush out in a fountain like he had expected, like in all of those shitty horror films he had watched as a teen, but rather it took to the air in a fine mist that sprayed them both. Taehyung reeled back, blinking to try and stop the spray from getting into his eyes, and then the blood gushed free.

He had never seen anything like it. This is what happened when cattle were strung up on one of those hooks and a knife was used on their throats. This was all of the blood pooled down in his body exploding free with the strong and terrified beats of his heart and within seconds there was a massive puddle on the floor. Jungkook pulled back but he didn’t let go of his hair, keeping his head held back so that the wound stayed stretched open. Nam wasn’t really making noises, or at least Taehyung didn’t think that he was. It was hard to tell if the hideous wheezing rasps were coming out of his mouth or the slice in his throat, his destroyed windpipe. After a few seconds, body twitching and shuddering, he fell still. That was when Jungkook dragged his eyes away to look at him. Taehyung didn’t return his gaze. He was still staring at the rather steady flow of blood spilling down to the floor. There was a puddle spreading so far across the floor that it was almost impossible to believe. Too much blood, it looked way too much for one body. They were all standing in it, it was pooled around all of their shoes like rainwater.

The stains on the concrete would never be able to be cleaned free.

“Now for the finishing touches.” Jungkook reached over to grab his wrist, moving his hand so that it was hovering over the still leaking gash. At least Nam had stopped screaming now, had stopped fighting. He supposed that that was a blessing for it meant that the man was well and truly dead. “Stick it inside, angle it out of his mouth. You have to make sure to get it right, part the windpipe with your fingers if you have to.”

Taehyung did as he was told because there was little point in resistance now. After everything that had happened it was rather pointless saying no. He didn’t even blink as he leaned forward and used his other hand to force the wound open wider so that he could shove Nam’s cock inside. Looking at the slice in his windpipe was a little like looking at a mouth, a gaping bloody mouth. It took quite a bit of effort to slip it fully inside and then down so that it was visible in his mouth and hidden deep within his throat. But when it was done Jungkook let out a noise he expected one to make when appreciating fine art or wine.

“The best one yet,” Jungkook said as he stared at Nam, at the head of his cock sticking out of his open mouth. There was a smile on his face and a spray of blood all over his nose and cheeks like freckles. Now that the majority of the blood had gushed free the rather pitiful dribble was spilling down to drip like water from a sink. Humans were just a funny sink, Taehyung decided in that moment. A sink made from meat instead of porcelain. It made him start laughing and after a few seconds he couldn’t stop. It didn’t sound like laughter to his ears however, for it was much too reedy and breathless to be classified as a humoured laugh.

“Daewoo, Siwoo, leave him to drain and then dump him in the usual location. Remember I want him to be discovered, he’s to set an example. Call in cleanup too, sort this place out.”

“Yeah, boss,” the twins said in unison.

Jungkook got upright first and then he dragged him up with him, not roughly but firmly. Taehyung didn’t attempt to fight free because couldn’t have walked without his support. He did try and stop the rather hysterical giggles however. He had heard from Hoseok once that often people laughed when faced with great anxiety or shock, a strange reaction but completely natural. He wondered if Hoseok had been talking about evidence being dropped on a desk during interrogation or after castrating a man, and then he wondered what exactly his partner would think.

Hoseok had told him that he might have to kill men that day on the target range that felt an eternity ago. He had lifted the practice gun and he had told him that he might just need to shoot another man to save his life. He had not told him about this, none of them had, not even Namjoon.

Taehyung was pulled across the warehouse, both of them likely leaving bloody shoe prints in their wake as they did. When they were both outside he felt Jungkook seizing hold of both of his upper arms and then his back was driven up against the wall of the building. Just as fast as he had grabbed his arms Jungkook was grabbing his face.

“Breathe,” he instructed. “Taehyung you need to breathe. In,” Taehyung took an intake of breath after him, “and out.” An exhale that hitched and sounded like a strangled groan escaped his mouth. “And again. In.” Jungkook repeated this over several times until Taehyung managed to get most of his breathing regulated. Not his heart however, for that was still racing in his chest. “The first time is always like this. It’s not like sex.” Taehyung wouldn’t know, he had never had it. “The fear comes after, not before. The pleasure peaks at the start, not the end.”

“Juh-Jungkook I-”

“Just keep breathing. The worst part is over with now, he’s dead and you’re not.” Taehyung closed his eyes and he just concentrated on breathing like Jungkook had told him to, deep inhale and hold, than a slow exhale. He could feel his hands on his face and he couldn’t help himself from reaching up to grab Jungkook’s wrists too. To hold onto something and to stop his hands from shaking. After perhaps a minute he managed to open his eyes and when he did he saw Jungkook’s face just a few inches from his own. “OK?”

“Uh-OK.”

“Stay still, I need to clean you up,” Jungkook instructed as he let go of his face with one hand and reached inside his jacket. He pulled a silken handkerchief free and wet it with his tongue. Then he methodically wiped the damp silk along his face. “With practice, you learn to cut throats from behind to save yourself the mess. I needed you to see from the front however, hence the irritating mess.”

“Do…do I have to…to learn how to do that?” Taehyung asked as he took another shuddering breath and felt his entire body shaking. “Can’t I just work for yuh…you, Master Jeon? Do I have to kuh-kill men?”

“If you want to survive Haedogje Pa, you need to be tough,” Jungkook said, fingers gently wiping along his cheekbone. “You need to not be scared of violence. A man that flinches at violence is a boy. A man that hasn’t committed violence is a boy. You’re not a boy, Taehyung, you’re a man. If other men see you as a man than you’re much safer, but if they see you as a boy then they’ll hurt you.”

“Luh-like Nam?”

“Nam thought you were a boy, you showed him you were a man.”

Taehyung stayed still and patiently let him clean his cheeks and nose free of the blood from earlier. Jungkook concentrated on the task at hand, brow lightly furrowed in concentration as he made sure to clean his skin of all traces. This meant that Taehyung could momentarily study his face whilst he did so, without fear of eye-contact. Jungkook didn’t even look shaken by what had happened, unfazed and very much used to it all. He wondered what his first murder had been like. Had he cried, had he vomited all over himself and sobbed like a child? Had he just started laughing like he had until he had struggled to breathe? Or had Jungkook already witnessed great violence from the start, desensitised and numb to it all? After a minute or two he had cleaned it all free and so he dropped his hand from his face.

“I should…” Taehyung paused before reaching over to pull the handkerchief free from his hand. He found a spot that was free from blood and bunched it around his forefinger before lifting it to his mouth to wet it. His tongue ran along the smooth silk, leaving a damp patch of saliva behind. Then he slowly moved his hand so that he could touch his cheek. Jungkook didn’t blink and instead let him wipe the material along his cheek. Because of the angle he had been on he had avoided most of the spray. Taehyung’s hand was shaking as he cleaned the blood free. “I’ve only got one shirt and it’s ruined,” he said in a quiet voice.

“I’ll get a man to bring your belongings to the apartment,” Jungkook replied, eyes trying to track his hand as he cleaned the blood free. “But it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow morning you’re coming with me. There’s a schedule for Dongdaemun-gu. You’re my right hand man, Taehyung. But I also have a gift for you.”

“A gift?”

“Yes,” Jungkook shifted and now Taehyung was more than certain that his hands were on his waist. It was enough to make him stop on the act of cleaning, not quite freezing up but close to it. “And if you perform well tomorrow, just like today, then I’ll have another gift.”

“Do I…do I have to kill anyone?”

“…I hope not, but that all depends on how tomorrow plays out.”

“Namjoon, you gotta see this man.”

Namjoon hadn’t really been paying much attention to what was in front of him. A file, he could see that much but he didn’t know the specifics. It could have been about anyone, anything, for his eyes had just been staring at the paper with enough intensity to set it alight rather than reading it. These days concentrating was a hard task, a very hard task. How could he sit there and let his mind be preoccupied and distracted when there was a very important matter at hand.

Taehyung.

It had been way over twenty-four hours since Taehyung had called him. If he were to give a precise estimate he would peg it at roughly forty-nine hours, seventeen minutes and five seconds. Six…seven…eight. He didn’t like this fact but he knew that it could mean a great many things. It didn’t have to mean something bad had happened, no not at all. Taehyung could be distracted right now, under the watchful eyes of superiors and unable to safely get his hand on a disposable phone to pass along a message. He had went many more days when he had been undercover without contact to the outside world but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to worry. It was Taehyung, not him, and he didn’t know what could have happened in those long hours.

Maybe nothing, maybe everything.

Taehyung could be halfway across the capital in a drugs den, could be at a meeting, could be passed out drunk in a strip club, could be dead, could be anything. So many possible outcomes and no way of telling which one was true. Namjoon had taken to ensuring that the phone was in his sights at all costs, be it during daylight work hours or in the evening. Taehyung might only find time to call in the middle of the night, which meant that he had to be prepared. Taehyung might call whilst he was on a fucking bathroom break and he couldn’t risk missing their one window of time because he had been too busy pissing away four too many cups of coffee.

Taehyung was alive right now, or he could be dead. It was much too Schrödinger for him right now. Namjoon didn’t deal with maybes, he dealt with solid facts. He just needed the phone to vibrate on his desk beside his coffee mug to let him know that Taehyung was still breathing and then he could breathe again, could concentrate on work. But then his team member’s voice had called out and dragged him back to reality again.

Hoseok’s complexion was a lot paler than usual, noticeably so. There were twin patches of high colour on his cheeks giving him a flushed look that Namjoon associated with too many coffees, important news, and a shocking revelation of some kind. He had learnt to read people and sometimes he couldn’t switch the skill off. Even when it meant learning mannerisms of team members and the usual young lady that would serve him coffee at the store across the street. And what his learned mannerisms about Hoseok were telling him was that the young man had a bombshell to drop.

“Speak to me, Hoseok.”

“Dead body found in Gangdong-gu as of 5:31am this morning. Body has been removed and since identified. Haedogje Pa. Get your ass out that seat, follow me.”

In most circumstances he would have refused to have moved out of downright principal but he understood Hoseok’s brusque language and behaviour. This was something serious and he needed to see it. So he pushed his chair out, grabbed the disposable phone and followed him across the office to step out into the hallway.

“Photographs were floating around the pool, trying to get a positive ID and Sungah did it for us. She’s cinched us the case, thank fuck,” Hoseok explained as he guided him across the department and down a set of stairs to get onto the first floor. Namjoon just held his tongue as he followed him into a large room filled with booths and packed with people. Sungah was standing a few into the room at a desk, hands on her hips and head cocked in a manner that showed impatience.

“Can’t take the files without you here,” she explained as she reached up to brush a stray lock of bobbed hair behind her ear. “But trust me Namjoon, this case is for our department. I’ll explain in the office but just accept the case.”

“I’ll be more than happy to say yes if it means you’ll both tell me what’s going on.”

Two minutes later, standing in front of the cork board in their department Namjoon watched Sungah tacking the photographs onto it with ruthless presses of her thumb. The sight he saw was that of a heavily mutilated body, male perhaps in his thirties from what he could tell. Hard to do so considering his rather grey complexion. Namjoon had seen quite a few dead bodies in his time and he was always struck about how they didn’t look like they were flesh and blood. There was always a strange rubbery look to the skin, like looking at a mask. The victim was wearing a shirt and nothing else, naked entirely from the waist down. There were several shots, distant full body, close-up examinations. They were very unpleasant to look at, particularly the raw stump between the man’s legs. Looking at that Namjoon knew exactly where this case was going. He had seen this all before, had been shown deaths similar to this level of brutality by a certain someone in the department who was no longer present.

“His cock is in his mouth,” Hoseok said as he studied the photographs. “Usually most would feed it to the dogs but apparently not this time.”

“Do you recognise this?” Sungah asked, gesturing with a hand to sweep it across the board.

“Yes I know what that method is. It’s a favourite of The Boy: the ‘Colombian Necktie’.”

“Like what drugs cartels use?” Hoseok asked, cocking his head as he dropped his gaze to the shot of his throat.

“Yes and no, not these ones. You ever read up on your political history, Hoseok? These originated in Colombia right in the middle of a violent political clash that saw hundreds of thousand of people slaughtered. Probably one of the more tamer versions of the torture techniques they used.”

“This is tame?”

“There was a method of torture that involved slowly cutting a person up whilst they were alive. Another that involved hundreds of puncture wounds. Another one involved Caesareans and roosters but I won’t go into that; all you need to know is that The Boy is an avid fan of torturous death. The more inventive the death, the better. I have no doubt in my mind that he would loved reading about La Violencia. Hell, might just be his fucking bedtime story for all I know.”

“OK, so what’s the point? And how do we know that it’s The Boy?” Sungah asked as she folded her arms across her chest. She had nibbled on her lower lip considerably whilst listening to him speak so it was a good thing she never wore lipstick.

“The point? It’s pretty obvious what the point is,” Hoseok said as he turned back to look at the board. “Humiliation, Nam’s cock is shoved so far up his own windpipe it’s like the most fucked up blowjob possible.”

“Taehyung was onto something before he left the department,” Namjoon explained. “He had been linking a few dead bodies together and he had a hunch that the men might have been murdered for The Boy instead of Jeon. He said that the deaths were much too out of character to be Jeon. Daddy dearest deals clean and quick, you piss him off and there’s a bullet in the back of your skull before you even hear the gunshot. A good couple of his men showed up dead and the only possible link that could be made was that they had pissed him off. But then Taehyung started thinking… What if they had pissed him off but someone else had offed them? Or, what if they pissed off both daddy and son?”

“Stop calling him daddy,” Hoseok muttered with a faux shudder.

“But he couldn’t get solid links before I dropped the undercover shit on him,” Namjoon finished. “The bodies were brutalised. Neckties like this, decapitation, shit Lee down at the morgue said she thought one had been fucked with a power drill ‘cos his organs were fucking pulp.” He reached out to tap a finger on the photograph. “So this makes him another link. Next question, who is he?”

“Nam, Nam Jaebum,” Sungah explained as she turned her head to look at him. “You’ve more than certainly heard his name.”

“…I have, shit I’ve heard of a Nam. Mapo-gu?” When she nodded Namjoon cursed under his breath.

“I cracked open prostitution rings of his ilk in the past. Never caught him, barely caught more than a dozen of his pimps. That man was a piece of shit and I’m glad someone stuck him before I could.” The office fell silent for a few seconds and then she dragged her eyes off the board to look at him. “What were you cursing for?”

“Taehyung…he was in Mapo-gu. That’s where Lim fed him into the gang from. Notoriously a calm district with more drugs and nightclub issues than other offences. He mentioned a Nam, hang on. All his messages go through to my tapped phone. I can play it back to you.” Namjoon crossed the office to get to his desk, placing the disposable down so that he could give his computer full attention. After hitting a few buttons he accessed the online database on which all the recordings would be kept; one thus far. He started playing the recording and increased the volume loud enough for it to be heard all the way across the small department room. When Taehyung’s voice sounded his two team members twisted to look over at the computer, almost as if they were looking at the young man as he spoke.

“… I mean I’m Haedogje Pa. ” Taehyung’s disembodied voice explained, slightly static from the recording and the high volume. “ Nam wanted me, he wanted me under his orders pretty badly but he didn’t get his way thank fuck. No, I think I’ve got a new owner now. ”

“Jesus H. Christ,” Hoseok said as he reached up to start running his fingers along his lips. Yes, Namjoon could agree with that sentiment. Here Taehyung was, talking about a man that had been found dead just two days short of him mentioning his name. He couldn’t believe it, and yet there was solid evidence.

“… When he asked about his men taking an interest in me I told him about Nam and he…he looked displeased and said that Nam couldn’t have me,” Taehyung explained, and he knew after that point that Nam was no longer mentioned, just some talk about armies and chess. So he shifted to hit the mouse and stop the recording. Both Sungah and Hoseok were staring at him and he took a moment to collect his thoughts before opening his mouth. But before he could she took the plunge.

“Nam’s death and Taehyung’s infiltration into Haedogje Pa are both connected. Aren’t they?” There might not be solid evidence yet but there was enough weight behind it to make the connection. Sungah had made that exact link. “Nam’s death could be one of several reasons, we all know that he’s a slimy bastard that’s pissed most of his so-called brothers off. But why now? And why so brutal?”

“There’s something…off about it, what Tae said,” Hoseok added. “The part about not having him. It sounds…I don’t know but it sounds strange. Like ownership but something more than that.”

“It’s not uncommon for hierarchy to…to select lesser ranked members and to use them for sexual purposes,” Namjoon explained in a quiet voice. “It’s a form of control and dominance. Some groom, some just plain rape. I should know, I once had three men attempting to groom me when I was undercover.”

“Did Tae know this fact?”

“…No.” He could see Hoseok staring at him, expression hard to read. “I didn’t tell him because I was scared that it would terrify Taehyung out of committing to the job.”

“You think The Boy’s got his eye on Taehyung and so he took Nam out of the picture?”

“No, it’s not his style to be so petty, Sungah. I think that Nam had already blown several chances and he fucked The Boy over somehow. That’s where Taehyung comes into it. The Boy wants him for something, Taehyung made that much clear during our last talk. He’s singled him out of the new bloods, and that means something. But until Taehyung contacts us and explains we can only guess what.”

“Does Tae know much danger he’s in right now?” Hoseok asked as he twisted to look back at the cork board.

“Yes, I think he does. He’s already seen a man get murdered on his first day. I have no doubts that Taehyung now knows how dangerous Haedogje Pa really is.”

“You think that maybe..maybe Taehyung witnessed this too?” Sungah asked, eyes boring right into the back of the computer.

“I’m not sure. Right now…I’m just praying that Taehyung didn’t have to get involved in it.”

Chapter Text

The time on the clock said that it was 6:00am and Taehyung could only stare at it in dumb confusion before he realised that he was going to have to climb out of the bed. He didn’t want to but he knew that he had no choice. Jungkook had told him that he was going to Dongdaemun-gu with him for the meeting, and that meant that he had to be ready as soon as he could. He didn’t want to leave the young man waiting because he didn’t want to piss him off. He had seen what happened to men that pissed Jungkook off just yesterday. In fact, if he was going to be pedantic about it, he hadn’t just seen what happened…

He had been responsible for it.

Taehyung swung his legs over the side of the bed, bare feet brushing against the wooden flooring. His stomach clenched tight from the movement. He reached up to press the heels of his hands against his eyes and he let out a deep groan. No hangover today and yet his entire body ached. It was strange but he had a feeling that it was something psychosomatic. His body was hurting because his mind was hurting, his fragile mental state was fucking with him. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was true and he wondered just how many more days he could handle in Jungkook’s company before something in his brain just snapped from the horror and the pressure. Taehyung didn’t think that he could handle this burden. He felt like he was going to explode and ruin his chances, and it meant that he would let his team down. But he hadn’t expected this, this absolute hell that he had been dropped right into the centre of. Yet he was stuck currently and he had no choice but to accept it.

When he had arrived back at the Gangnam-gu apartment block yesterday there had been his rather small holdall bag left in front of the door. Woo had left it, or perhaps another man had upon his demands. That meant that he at least had something clean to change into for the day. So after stepping out of the shower he finished getting ready and he eyed the clock to see that it was 6:20am. He didn’t know whether he was meant to stay in his room and await Jungkook or whether he was supposed to go to him. As luck would have it just like yesterday morning the intercom system on the wall lit up and so Taehyung turned to look at it. He was greeted not by the sight of Jungkook, fixing his shirt and preparing for the day, but rather another Haedogje Pa member.

There was no need for him to keep The Boy waiting for he was already dressed and awaiting orders. So Taehyung just simply went over to the dresser beside the bed and collected the gloves from yesterday evening. He made sure to slip them inside his jacket because he wanted to be prepared for anything. Though in his chest he prayed that he wouldn’t need them there was no true way of knowing. Better to have them and please Jungkook, then to be caught short and piss him off. Once that was done he crossed the room to leave the apartment, locking up and entering the elevator.

It crossed Taehyung’s mind as he settled against the wall of the carriage that he didn’t know what he was doing. Since joining Haedogje Pa he hadn’t really had a clue. He guessed that there was a semblance of order now that Jungkook was there to order him around, but there was still no clear idea of might happen. A meeting in Dongdaemun-gu could be a simple meeting. It could also be cold blooded murder and he didn’t know. All he knew were names and faces, solid facts.

That was all that he needed to know.

As it was Jungkook stepped out of the elevator at 6:29am as opposed to 6:30. Just to keep him on his toes it would seem. He appeared in a perfect state, his jacket buttoned up and tie neat, not a single hair out of place. Made Taehyung feel rather stupid standing by the counter with a shirt that had creases in it from being folded up in his holdall bag and sleep puffy eyes that wouldn’t seem to stay open. Jungkook looked good, like he always looked he supposed. At some time in the future Taehyung knew that he would need to start looking good too.

“Car?” Jungkook asked as he checked his shirt cuff. He didn’t even look in his direction but rather at one of the men that seemed to be bouncers for the apartment block.

“Right outside, boss,” the man replied in a deep voice.

“Come, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he crossed the room. He got a glance this time, a sideways one that told him to get ass in gear. But before Taehyung could race over to get the door one of the bouncers was already holding it open for them both.

They stepped outside and on the curb a few away was the Mitsubishi Dignity. A uniformed chauffeur was standing beside the back door and he popped it open for them. Jungkook climbed in first, ducking and smoothly climbing inside to sit in the far seat. Taehyung got in beside him, praying that he didn’t slam his head on the roof as he did. Then the door was being shut behind them and the chauffeur got into the front to start the engine. Just several hours ago Taehyung had been sitting in the front; shirt tacky with blood and hands shaking so badly he had placed them between his thighs and squeezed them together so that Jungkook hadn’t seen them shaking on his lap. It was hard to believe that Nam had been dead for not even half a day now and yet he didn’t really feel anything. Taehyung was deciding to see it as his mind putting up walls to protect him; stopping him dwelling on what he had seen and done. He wondered if that was what Jungkook’s mind had done too. Or had he never needed the walls to be built in the first place?

“Master Jeon, this is another meeting isn’t it?” Taehyung asked as the car pulled away from the curb. Jungkook confirmed that it was as he unbuttoned his suit jacket to stop the fabric bunching and creasing. “In Dongdaemun-gu?”

“Yes, the meeting is at 8am.”

“Do we have work to do before then, Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked as he mentally worked it out all. It took only twenty minutes or so in decent traffic to get to Dongdaemun-gu from Gangnam-gu. Therefore they would arrive nearly two hours earlier than the time of the meeting. Clearly there was something that they needed to do.

“No, we have an appointment.”

“An appointment, Master Jeon?”

“Yes, an appointment for you at a tailors right here in Gangnam-gu. You need new suits.”

“Is that my…my reward, Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice; thinking of how he had told him that working for him had benefits and rewards. The costs of a man’s life could equate to that of a tailored suit it would seem.

“No, that’s not a reward. It’s part of your uniform. You need to look good, Taehyung. It’s my father’s belief that a man must look good at all times, particularly an important man. Right now you look…” Jungkook turned his head to look at him and then he sniffed. “You look poor and plain.” Taehyung wanted to tell him that he was poor. The bank account that had been created for his Haedogje Pa persona was nothing really, but he held his tongue rather than speak. “So you need to look good. That’s not a difficult task. The base is good, it’s the…layers that need to be fixed.” Jungkook was talking about him like he was a mannequin, a good-looking mannequin. “Taehyung?”

“Yeah, Master Jeon?”

“You looked over the files for Dongdaemun-gu, didn’t you?”

“I did, Master Jeon,” Taehyung agreed. Jungkook asked him if he thought that a meeting was needed. “Well there was…there was a major issue about profit loss in regards to one brother, but otherwise the only issues that needed to be addressed were the tributes. Without the major issue I’d say that Woo would’ve been more fitting for the meeting.” The young man seemed to think it over for a moment, eyes fixed on the back of the front seat rather than look at him. Then Jungkook reached inside of his jacket pocket and he pulled his phone free. His thumb moved with speed and confidence as he unlocked and hastily opened something. Then he held the phone against his ear and waited.

“Woo, I’ve changed mind. The meeting doesn’t need to happen today. Reschedule it and attend for me. I checked last night and I don’t believe I need to be present. But ensure that Go Howon is called to the building. I want to see him today privately instead.”

There was a static sound on the phone, that of the man replying to him. Taehyung eyed his hands rather than look at him, clasped tightly in his lap.

“Yes, Go Howon not Jo Byungtae. I want the nephew,” Jungkook confirmed. “9am exactly. If he’s not present then I will want to see Byungtae.” His tone was icy and it was clear that neither of the men should piss him off. There was clearly a delicate situation between them right now. “We have a very important matter to address.” Then he ended the call and plunged the car into silence.

Taehyung just stayed still and silent for the duration of the ride because he didn't want to do something wrong. Much safer to let Jungkook initiate all dialogue when there were other Haedogje Pa men present, like the chauffeur. When they were alone perhaps he could risk speaking like last night but right now he decided that silence was his best option. It wasn’t that long at all until the vehicle was pulling up outside of a building and he realised that they had arrived at their destination. So Taehyung climbed out and held the door for Jungkook as he glanced at the building. A rather swanky-looking brick and glass building that was clearly a tailors from first glance because there were dressed mannequins in the windows: two in black day suits with white shirts underneath, one in a charcoal three piece evening suit.

“Have you ever been fitted for a suit before?” Jungkook asked as he fixed his jacket. Taehyung slammed the door shut and told him that he had not as he followed him across the curb and to the door. “I’m not surprised,” the young man said as he opened it for him to step inside first. There was a rather excited squealing noise at their entrance and he saw someone moving from the counter across the store towards them.

The man stunned Taehyung by coming right over to them and placing both hands on Jungkook’s shoulders. Then came the quick and rather unexpected double kiss on each cheek. The man was Korean clearly, yet he greeted Jungkook like a strange foreigner. And no sooner had he done that he was turning to grab him too. Taehyung stood in place awkwardly and let the man kiss his cheeks with a loud mwah before moving back to look at them both.

“When you told me that you were here for a fitting I didn’t expect this ,” the man said as he held a hand up and gestured at him. Taehyung felt rather stupid and he could only look between the man and Jungkook as he tried to figure out what was going on. “He’s so much younger than your usual. I was beginning to think you liked silver foxes.”

What that meant Taehyung didn’t know but he thought about Woo and felt the urge to shudder.

“Hodong, I would take a woman before I would take a man over thirty,” Jungkook replied curtly and this caused the tailor to laugh. Very effeminate pitch, very effeminate everything. But he wasn’t terrifying like Haedogje Pa men and so Taehyung much preferred his overbearing presence.

“With his proportions it would be a delight to measure him,” Hodong said with a rather mischievous eyebrow raise. “Come come, what’s your name?”

“Tae-Taehyung,” Taehyung replied as the man hooked an arm around his waist and started steering him across the store. In the direction of what looked like a backroom; a fitting room.

“Oh he can talk! I thought he was mute, must just be shy,” Hodong said with a laugh. He could hear Jungkook following behind them and then he was being pulled into the fitting room. There was a slight platform and a footstool set in front of a long stretch of mirrors and a few feet away there was a long white satin settee. Jungkook went right over to that and sat down without a word. “Sadly I don’t get to say this often to such handsome men but please, Taehyung, remove your trousers and jacket.”

Taehyung felt rather stupid removing his clothes like this even when it was just for a suit fitting. He could feel the weight of Jungkook’s gaze on him and it made him strangely uncomfortable. But as soon as he was done he was stepping onto the slight platform. Hodong had a long stretch of plastic tape measure around his neck and a small scheduler book in hand that he placed on the top of the footstool. Clearly he would jot measurements inside of it.

“Arms up dear, don’t be shy.”

“Right, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he lifted one leg and crossed it over the other. He plucked at his trouser leg to neaten out any creases and then looked up at him. “Tell me what you know about Jo Byungtae. Of Dongdaemun-gu of course, I don’t think we have the pleasure of having any other brothers with that boring name.”

“Jo Byungtae,” Taehyung said as he kept his arms held up to his sides, “works in black market trade. Has several stores and restaurants in this district as fronts. Covers everything from organs to pets, to rip-off goods.”

“More,” Jungkook ordered as he gestured with his fingers, a rather alluring twitch.

“He…he often leaves the fronts in control of family. One in particular is fronted by his nephew, who you informed me is called Howon.”

“Yes yes, stupid Howon. What’s the problem here, Taehyung? Assuming that there is a problem of course.”

“I believe that…well from the information I gathered yesterday there’s been problems with profits in the area. ‘Cos Howon is his nephew Byungtae ain’t punishing him at all. He’s also refusing to replace him in favour of a man that could bring profits back up.” Jungkook gave him a rather wry smile and then lifted both hands to clap a few times. His own applause. Taehyung didn’t know whether to be pleased about this or not. He felt rather pleased. “His favouritism is affecting Haedogje Pa profits.”

“Good, Taehyung, very good,” the younger man spoke to him like he was a fucking dog. “That’s an issue that I must correct as of today. Too long has Byungtae been allowed to value his own family above that of Haedogje Pa.”

“He’s smart,” Hodong said as he cinched the tape around his chest. “I like him more than the other one.”

Jungkook didn’t comment on this but judging from the smile on his face he silently agreed with the tailor.

It took some time for Hodong to check his measurements for the suit. This included chest measurements, armspan, waist, along with leg lengths both outer and inner and his hips. Taehyung remained silent and still but every now and again he would spare a quick glance up at Jungkook to see the young man studying him intently. As if he were standing on a catwalk and modelling rather than a slight platform in his underwear and a wrinkled shirt. When the tailor was finished and he was getting dressed again only then did Jungkook stop staring. He was in the act of zipping his fly up when Hodong carried over a large book and held it in front of the younger man: a book of fabric swatches.

“Black, all black,” Jungkook said as he ran his fingers along the swatches almost absentmindedly. “He looks good in black don’t you think, Hodong?”

“Yes dear, he looks stunning in black,” Hodong agreed. “The usual?”

“Four day suits, two evening suits,” Jungkook said. “Allow some white for the evening suits, not the day.” He paused before nodding. “Yes, I trust you with the rest; the material and cuts. You’ve never given me a bad suit, Hodong, I expect great things.”

“Yes dear,” Hodong said with a smile. “You know I always deliver.”

From the tailors they ended up back in the car. Taehyung settled into the seat and watched the view of Gangnam-gu go past the windows without rest. Even in the early morning hours the district was packed with bodies. It didn’t seem to ever rest. As it drew closer and closer to 8am he wondered what his team were doing right now. They would either have arrived at the office early or would be travelling there. Would they be thinking about him? Wondering if he was alive or dead, if he was in danger or not? He had no clue but he didn’t want to think about them too much for fear that Jungkook could somehow read his mind. He wouldn’t at all be surprised if he could, he seemed to find things out at a terrifyingly preternatural rate.

The vehicle pulled up outside of a building that reminded him of the boarding house somewhat, except it was much smaller than that building. It had security fences to get past and a large yard filled with vehicles just like the one in Mapo-gu. Through the ground floor windows he could see countless men moving around the building but they weren’t tributes, just working men. Like Mapo-gu it seemed that they had a building that held some importance in terms of business. Taehyung popped the door open and held it so that Jungkook could step out and lead the way inside. Whenever they passed men in the hallways they all stopped and bowed to Jungkook and he felt strange being on his heel and having all of their eyes on him.

“Don’t bow back, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he caught sight of him returning a slight bow to one of the men. “You’re above them, don’t lower yourself.”

“What’d you mean, Master Jeon?”

But Jungkook didn’t reply to this question as he carried on walking down the hallway. When he reached the end he stopped in front of a set of double doors and so Taehyung moved to push them open for him and allow him into the room.

The boardroom looked so horribly empty for there were only a few bodies inside of it. Only one of said bodies was seated at the long oaken table for the three other men were standing like sentries beside the door. They looked like hired thugs more than anything else. Taehyung wondered what Howon thought sitting alone in the room like this and yet the young man looked rather unperturbed. Handsome young man, nice tanned complexion and short dark hair swept into a side parting that showed strong brows. He was seated with his hands folded on top of a leather document holder on the table and he didn’t slouch in the slightest.

“Good morning, Master Jeon,” he said as he got out of his seat and gave a swift bow, arms straight at his sides. “And?”

“Kim,” Taehyung said when he realised that he was asking his name.

“Sit,” Jungkook said without even looking at him. He crossed the room to sit in his obvious spot at the head of the table, and Taehyung moved to sit in the closest seat to his left on the adjacent side. “How is Byungtae today?”

“Uncle Byungtae is very well, Master Jeon,” Howon replied as he smiled at him. Pleasant smile, showed a set of startling white and straight teeth.

“Nice teeth, Howon,” Jungkook said as he sat back in his chair. The leather creaked from the movement and Taehyung turned his attention back to him. There was something on his face that was a bad sign. The almost smug amusement that was a good mask but not good enough to hide the coldness in his eyes. “Byungtae buy them for you?”

Howon could only laugh at the remark, showing a little something like discomfort as he shifted in his own seat. Taehyung knew exactly why he felt uncomfortable because he could feel it too. There was something in the air that just screamed incoming danger. He was starting to be able to smell trouble. Taehyung didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad.

“No, Master Jeon, uncle Jo didn’t buy me my teeth.” His teeth? Well, didn’t he sound like those idols on TV that insisted that they were surgery-free? Taehyung didn’t believe him for a second. They were just so plastic perfect that it was very hard to believe him.

“Funny, seen as he buys you everything else,” Jungkook retorted. The comeback was acidic and yet that smug smile was still on his face. “I don’t like nepotism, Howon.”

Taehyung gnawed on his lower lip as he looked at the other man. Was Howon thinking what he was thinking, or was he too worried about his own ass currently to really think about the irony of his words? Wasn’t Jungkook the textbook definition of nepotism? Or did the fact he was inheriting his empire not class it as that? He didn’t know but he knew that Jungkook was clearly pissed off with Byungtae and now Howon was going to pay the price for it.

“See, since Byungtae started playing with Haedogje Pa investments like his own little board game of strategy…we’ve been losing cash pretty fucking fast. And the reason? The reason is you, Howon.”

“Master Jeon, I-”

“And I understand, I do understand. The reason we’re losing cash is because you’re not suited for this role. You shouldn’t be in Haedogje Pa. But because of uncle Byungtae, here you are.” Jungkook paused and slowly ran his eyes across the boardroom. “Here you are in front of me with near ten million won lost in investments over the last two months.”

The room fell silent and Taehyung studied the table rather than look at either of them. He knew what was coming and he just prayed that it wasn’t like the last meeting that he had been in. Jungkook didn’t believe in taking his time, he cut right to the bone when needed: a zero bullshit policy. Judging from what Jungkook had just said this wasn’t something worthy of death, but it was certainly something that could become an example. An example to Jo Byungtae.

“This isn’t personal, Howon…” Jungkook said in a quiet voice. At this two of the unnamed thugs shifted to drop their hands on his shoulders and pin Howon in place. The young man made a shocked noise at this but didn’t try and struggle free, didn’t get indignant. “It’s just business.”

“I gotta say, Master Jeon, it’s feeling pretty personal,” Howon retorted and this actually made him laugh as he pushed his chair out and got to his feet.

“Hold him down for me, Taehyung,” Jungkook instructed as he reached up and removed his suit jacket. Taehyung saw that he was doing so to roll his shirt sleeves up. That was all that he really needed to see to know what was going to happen next. Something messy.

“How…how do you want me to hold him, Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked as he got to his feet and pulled the chair out. From along the length of the table Howon was now squirming against the thugs that were holding his arms. But he still held his tongue. Taehyung pulled his gloves out of his pocket, finally having a reason to use them. He knew that it had been smart to bring them with him.

“Hold his head for me, hold it nice and steady. Woosoo, go to the car and collect the kit. I’m still not sure which one I want to use yet.” Jungkook folded his jacket and carefully lay it down on the oak table. So Taehyung moved over to stand between the two thugs and sound of Woosoo leaving echoed on the quiet air; the door shutting with a click. He had to grab Howon’s head from behind, meaning that his palms were on his cheeks and his fingers on his jaw. Then the young man moved to perch on the table just in front of the chaos.

“Am I the first piece of entertainment for the day?” Howon asked sarcastically and Taehyung felt his muscles shifting under his skin as he spoke.

“Yes you are,” Jungkook replied curtly. “Hopefully not the last but that remains to be seen.” He smiled at the other man widely and it didn’t extend to his eyes.

“Kim?” It took Taehyung a few seconds to realise that he was talking to him and he saw that Howon was straining to look back at him, eyes rolled up to meet his. “You should pay real close attention to this. This is what will happen if you get on his bad side. Remember that.”

“Don’t talk to him,” Jungkook snapped, tone not angry but firm. “If you want to keep your cock, Howon, I wouldn’t talk to him. He’s already cut one off so far, so I wouldn’t try your luck.”

Taehyung could only shift his eyes to stare at Howon’s hair at this. For some reason he felt a flare akin to shame at his words more than anything else. He was ashamed that he had helped murder a man rather than frightened, but then again he wasn’t surprised right now. He was still feeling pretty fucking numb to it all. Howon was telling the truth and he knew that he was, but right now he had more important things to worry about than death.

Woosoo returned the room less than a minute later and he was carrying a large black toolkit with yellow handles. This went onto the table just beside Jungkook and the man clicked the locks on the sides up and then opened it for him. Taehyung couldn’t see what was inside but he was pretty certain that he saw the glint of metal; tools of course. When Woosoo moved away Jungkook reached inside and pulled something free, something that made a rather harsh slithering sound. There was a bundle of blue nylon rope in Jungkook’s hands and he bent forward to start tying it around Howon’s left wrist to secure him to the chair. This meant that the men could soon let go of him but not him. Taehyung knew that he was going to have to hold his head still for him. Another thing to participate in.

“I’ll have to teach you how to do this for me, Taehyung,” Jungkook remarked as he looped the rope tight around his ribs and knotted it in place. As soon as his upper body was secured to the chair he moved onto his other wrist. “A personal lesson in the art of trussing.” He looked up at him as he securely knotted Howon’s other arm to the armrest and Taehyung saw something in his eyes. Something that made his stomach tighten. When Jungkook was done securing him to the chair, the rope gathered around and crisscrossed over his stomach and legs to keep him in place, he moved over to the table and glanced inside the toolbox. Then he was pulling another bundle out. This time it was latex gloves. Two pairs which he proceeded to pull on. The latex snapped in place like the crack of a whip.

“A lot of people have a fear of dentistry…” Jungkook remarked as he once again turned back to the box. He made sure to face them however and just turn his head, meaning his expression was visible at all times. “You’re clearly not scared of it, Howon, so what about you, Taehyung?”

“No, Master Jeon,” Taehyung replied as he watched him pull a pair of pliers out of the toolkit and placed them down on the table. Red handles, solid steel head. “I’m…I’m not scared of dentistry.”

“What are you scared of?”

“…Heights,” he replied as the young man pulled something else free. He saw that it was a claw hammer with a flat head on one end and two curved prongs on the other. For smashing nails in…and pulling them out. “I’m scared of heights.”

“I love heights,” Jungkook remarked as he rolled his wrist and shifted to move closer to them. The thugs were now back across the room so only Taehyung was holding his head in place. “From so high everyone else looks like ants. Tiny filthy ants.” He looked down at Howon with a rather blank expression on his face. “I fucking hate ants.”

Taehyung knew what was coming. He had known the second he had seen that hammer getting pulled free. After all of the mentions of Howon’s fake teeth he had known just what Jungkook would go for. He had a habit of going for weaknesses or vices; like Do and the strangulation, and Nam and the castration. Jungkook liked to take a special part of a man and use it against him and so he had picked Howon’s rather perfect teeth. So when Jungkook cocked his arm back and swung the hammer out he took a deep breath and waited for the blow. Jungkook aimed with expert precision (he had clearly done this before) and the flat head of the hammer connected with Howon’s mouth with the most sickening thump that Taehyung had ever heard.

He might just have been prepared for it all but he was pretty certain that the blow aimed for his teeth might just have dislocated his jaw too. The crack that he had felt upon impact had been too much for his teeth alone, and Taehyung was pretty sure that there was something pressing against his fingers that hadn’t been there a moment ago, something like a sharp jut of bone trying to burst free from the man’s skin. He had also expected Howon to scream and yet the noise that came out of his mashed up lips was actually worse than a scream. It was a deep and wounded bellow of pain and Taehyung looked up at Jungkook.

“See a lot of people think highly of themselves,” Jungkook continued as if he hadn’t just swung a fucking hammer into Howon’s face. “They see themselves as being on top, standing up high where no one can touch them but they forget one thing.” He bent down and reached over to stick his fingers between Howon’s lips, forcing his mouth open. Taehyung was pretty certain that the lump under his skin shifted when he did this. A glance down showed that his lips were ruined, pouring blood, and yet his teeth hadn’t been knocked free yet; just loosened.

“Wuh…what do they forget, Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked as the young man felt around with his fingers inside his mouth. Howon was still making those deep pained sounds but he was trying his hardest to block them out.

“They forget about lightning strikes,” Jungkook said as he lifted the hammer and flipped it around so he could stick the claw end inside of his lips. When he gripped the handle hard and applied pressure Howon did scream this time. He screamed and tried to fight back against the restraints but it was useless.

Taehyung wished that he didn’t know the sound a hammer made when it hit another human in the face. He also wished that he didn’t know how hard it was to pull loose teeth free and the noises that they made when they were torn out of gums. The squelching pop that escaped when Jungkook applied the right weight on the hammer. First came the incisors and canines, little perfect squares and lightly pointed edges. They had taken the brunt of the blow and so they were removed with the hammer. Taehyung could feel blood running down onto his gloved fingers and soon enough Howon’s shirt was soaked through. The entire front was red and by the time Jungkook was finished there likely wouldn’t be a patch of white left.

“Taehyung, pull him back so I can get to the rest,” Jungkook said as he shifted to lean back. In one hand he had gathered up the teeth; a fucked up tooth fairy. “Woosoo, hold the torch for me.”

Taehyung cocked Howon’s head back and unsurprisingly at this point the man didn’t try and fight back. He was just breathing fast and hard through his ruined mouth and his eyes had mostly rolled back under his lids. His lightly tanned complexion was grey and it made his eye sockets look a rather bruised brown. He could see the gaping maw where his teeth had been and Taehyung swallowed hard. Jungkook placed the teeth down along with the hammer and then he collected the pliers. Woosoo shifted to stand beside him, penlight torch in hand which he flicked on and aimed right at the man’s mouth.

“What else are you scared of Taehyung?” Jungkook asked as he moved back into position. He was almost straddling Howon at this point so that he could get the right angle to continue his work. “I imagine there are quite a few things?”

“Mmm,” Taehyung made the noise through his own teeth, lips pressed together tightly as if Jungkook might decide to take a swing at them next.

“Mmm?” Jungkook looked up at him, eyebrows lifting as he did. The pliers were far back in Howon’s mouth and he angled his wrist before applying pressure. There was a dull crunch but he didn’t pull anything free yet. Howon screeched around Jungkook’s fingers. “What does ‘mmm’ mean, Taehyung?” he asked over the screams as he carried on moving his wrist.

“There’s a few things.” Like castration and losing my teeth and being choked to death. “Duh…drowning scares me.”

“A common fear. Can you swim?” He nodded and Jungkook smiled at him widely, showcasing his own lovely teeth. “Then why are you scared of drowning? A little more light, it’s hard to see right at the back,” he said in a low voice as he dropped his eyes again, face back to perfect concentration. Taehyung could see that he hadn’t even broken a sweat even after breaking so many teeth. So Woosoo shifted the torch to allow the beam to illuminate the inside of Howon’s mouth. “Another fear?”

“Ah, that’s a true fear,” Jungkook said as Howon moaned and then he smirked. “Live fast, die young. Such bullshit but strangely relatable.”

“I’m scared of wuh…waking up one day and realising I’ve been living for so long and I’ve done nothing,” Taehyung said as the other man finally wrenched the tooth out. The noises that Howon made were like nothing he had ever heard before. Even Nam hadn’t made those noises.

“Fucking pissed himself,” Jungkook muttered in disgust as he lifted the molar up and studied it. The bottom of the tooth, the curved ends that had been buried deep into his gum a moment ago were now slick with blood. Taehyung didn’t even want to look at the hole that would be left behind. “What a waste of all of those bottles of champagne.” He palmed the tooth and then moved onto the next. “Done nothing? Oh, Taehyung…” Jungkook grinned at him. “So long as you’re by my side you don’t need to worry about doing nothing.”

“Master…Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked as the pliers went right back into Howon’s mouth.

“You’ll achieve greatness with me, Taehyung,” Jungkook explained. “You’ll become the closest thing to a god.”

It took a few minutes of work before he finished the task. All things considered it didn’t take long at all for him to remove every last tooth in Howon’s mouth. Taehyung had expected more than ten minutes at least, but Jungkook worked with confidence and precision as he snagged every last one and pulled them free. The scent of blood wasn’t as strong as it had been with Nam and so Taehyung didn’t have to hold his breath. He just wished that the removal wasn’t so noisy. Or that Howon would pass out and stop making those horrible noises, the strangled groans and choking gasps around the pliers and Jungkook’s slick latex fingers. When he was finished the young man moved to drop the molars onto the table along with the pliers and then he hunkered back down in front of him. Taehyung decided to let go of Howon’s head.

“Right, now that you’ve got no teeth,” Jungkook announced as he cupped the man’s cheeks in the palms of his hands. Taehyung thought he was wasting his time for Howon had clearly passed out. Nothing but the whites of his eyes were visible under his lids. “Uncle Byungtae really can buy you your teeth, hmm?” He patted one of his cheeks almost affectionately and then straightened up again. He spared a glance at him and Taehyung just swallowed hard. Then Jungkook picked up the hammer again and proceeded to gather the teeth together into a neat little pile.

When he brought the hammer down on them Taehyung heard them crunching under the loud thumping sound.

“Now…what’s next on the schedule let me think…” Jungkook paused, hammer cocked over the mountain of teeth. A few of the smaller ones had snapped into pieces, and with a few more slams of the hammer they would be dust. “Ah! A brunch reservation with Lee. Lee Pyobeom.”

“What should we do about him, boss?” Woosoo remarked as he eyed the slumped over Howon in the chair.

“Him, oh? Give him a little mercy. Get him to a dentist and see what they can do. After all, this was a warning to Byungtae. I’m sure he’s got the message perfectly.”

Being back inside the car Taehyung found that he was surprisingly calm all things considered. It wasn’t that he wasn’t scared (he was terrified) or that he wasn’t sickened (he could taste vomit trapped at the back of his throat) but rather he just wasn’t hysterical. After what had happened with Nam he hadn’t even been able to breathe, entire body shivering and weak because he had done those things to the man. But not Howon. He had just held his head and nothing more. He hadn’t even swung the hammer once. Taehyung was still coated in a light sheen of sweat all over his body and his heartbeat was erratic but he felt calm. Composed even. He didn’t know what this meant but that was what scared him the most.

He had just seen and helped participate in torture. Yesterday he had murdered a man and today he had helped tortured one. What else was left on the list of morals to break, he wondered.

The building was nothing more than the size of a toy house in the rear-view mirror when Jungkook’s phone sounded in his jacket pocket. The blaring sound dragged him out of his thoughts and Taehyung turned his head to look at him. The young man groaned and closed his eyes, reaching up with both hands to cradle his head.

“Answer that for me,” Jungkook muttered as massaged at his temples. “His screams have given me a headache.”

Taehyung shifted and slowly reached over so that his hand was hovering in front of Jungkook’s chest. Then he swallowed hard and moved so that he could reach inside and pull the phone free from his inner pocket. Gold coloured, possibly plated or solid for he had no way of actually telling. When Taehyung held the phone up he saw that the person that was calling was labelled by a rather ambiguous nickname: Doll. So he slid his thumb across the screen and held the device to his ear.

“Hello?”

“ I swear to god, darling, you better hurry the fuck up and get back and untie me! ” A voice shouted down the line at him and he flinched and pulled the device away from his ear. Taehyung spared a quick glance at Jungkook before putting it back against his ear. Male voice, accent revealing him to not be from Seoul. Pleasant-sounding he supposed, if he were to be able to listen to him speak rather than shout. “ It’s been nearly three hours now and I’m starting to get annoyed so you- ”

“He’s uh…” Taehyung turned to look at him and he had to resist the most pressing urge to swallow hard. “He wants to know when you’ll…untie him.” Jungkook’s gaze slipped to the phone for a moment and then he gestured at him to hand the device over. He hit a button and suddenly it was on speakerphone.

“How did you call me if you’re still tied up, babe?” Babe? That was even better than darling and Taehyung was shocked to hear the affection coming out of his mouth. After he had just pulled a man’s teeth out with a claw hammer, he was now calling another ‘babe’…

“ The maid ,” the man on the other line explained. “ She offered to call you seen as I can’t, you know, being tied up! ” Taehyung was shocked by how he raised his voice talking to Jungkook and yet he just smiled at the phone. That was strange. He didn’t know what that meant exactly. “ She can’t change the sheets with me lying on them! ”

“I’m sure you know how to change sheets, Jimin,” Jungkook retorted. When the man on the other line muttered something about how he could his gaze shifted to look at him. Taehyung held his gaze unblinkingly in confusion. “Good.”

“ I’m telling her to untie me. ”

“Oh really? That doesn’t sound like a very smart idea…” Jungkook said as he pulled at a slight crease on the knee of his suit trousers. “Only I can untie you remember, babe, and I’m much too busy to do that.”

“ Sweetie, if you want me to go and collect that order then you need me to leave the apartment. How can I leave if I’m tied to a bed, mmm? ” The man spoke with a rather condescending tone and Taehyung was still confused as to why Jungkook was letting him speak to him like that. Any other man would have been minus his teeth or cock at this point. “ Wangbi needs to go for a walk too. Let her untie me, please and I promise to misbehave. ”

“…Fine, she can untie you,” Jungkook said after a moment of thought. “Collect the order, get back and get ready for work. Be sure to warm yourself up, there’s four guys and I want you in at least most of the livefeed. You know that everyone wants to see you, babe, so give them a proper show.”

“ Aren’t you going to be back home? You know I always perform better with a real audience, darling.”

Taehyung turned to look at the window and for some reason he felt uncomfortable though he couldn’t explain why. Hearing the other man, the man that the phone told him was nicknamed Doll talking in such a way made him feel strange. There was something so sexual about his tone and his words and he reached up to fiddle with the button of his collar errantly. Performing and giving a show? He didn’t really know what that meant but there was a thought at the back of his mind that he was trying his very hardest to ignore.

“I just might, and there will be a bigger audience than usual,” Jungkook replied. Taehyung whipped his head back to stare at him in absolute shock. Was he talking about him? Was he including him in this statement? What did he mean by that?

“ Oh good, I look forward to- ” there was a sudden burst of static down the line, for the man had started yelling in another language that was most certainly not Korean. Vietnamese maybe? Either way it sounded like a couple of words and then the same one repeated a few times, aimed at the maid no doubt. “ To seeing you both. Behave, darling. ”

“You know I never do.” Jungkook ended the call and then the phone was back into his suit jacket pocket. “I hope they have palatable wine in this restaurant,” he muttered under his breath. “Seen as the food will no doubt be shit.”

It turned out that the restaurant did indeed serve palatable wine. Jungkook must have drank most of a bottle of red wine on his own and yet he didn’t get outrageously drunk but rather just a little looser than usual. The young man clearly knew how much he could withstand and still remain professional. Taehyung didn’t, which was why he drank a single glass and then only water. He didn’t want to get drunk and start telling Lee and his associates about how he had cut a man’s cock off last night. Or about how much blood there was when a man’s teeth were pulled out one by one. But mostly he didn’t want to turn to Jungkook completely shitfaced and tell him that he was a police officer and that he was “gonna arrest him for being such a naughty little boy”.

Taehyung valued the fact he was still breathing in the young man’s presence and getting drunk once had already been a mistake he wasn’t planning on repeating.

The food was pretty damn good too, he supposed. It was hard to tell really, because his tongue had dried up in his mouth and rendered his tastebuds rather useless. He couldn’t taste the kimchi, the samgyeopsal, any of the vegetables or even the rice. Taehyung hadn’t ever needed a cigarette more than now and the fact he had went nearly two days without one was killing him. He couldn’t stop gnawing on his ends of his chopsticks when no one was looking at him. His fingers were tapping and fiddling with everything because he had such a fucking need for a cigarette. So when Lee had offered one across the table he had nearly dived on the packet to accept. Jungkook turned it down but seemed to only inhale as soon as he exhaled a lungful of smoke beside him.

As it was by the time he had finished the cigarette he had ended up doubled over the toilet in the bathroom, vomiting up his entire stomach lining. The food tasted very good, in fact it tasted just as good coming up as it had going down. A double meal, how pleasant. Surprisingly enough, as he swilled his mouth out with tap water to rid the taste of vomit off his tongue, Taehyung felt much better afterwards. Purged almost. His shaking hands had stilled and he felt at peace. But he didn’t look at peace. He looked worn down and Taehyung wondered how long he could keep going before Jungkook found him hideous and decided that Woo was a better after all. Older and more reliable, not prone to having breakdowns in high-class restaurant bathrooms. He didn’t think that he could take much more of this.

“I gotta…gotta shut it all down. Gotta shut it all down,” Taehyung muttered to his own reflection as he reached up and wiped his wet hand on the mirror. Water beaded on the glass and ran down it to distort his face. Then he managed to compose his expression and left the bathroom to go back into the restaurant.

The brunch stretched into the afternoon hours and then they were leaving to get back into the car. With it being winter the sky was starting to darken and the weather had turned cold, a bitter cold that made his cheeks turn almost numb. He was thankful that the car was warm when he climbed inside and sat back in the seat. It was only when the car started rolling down the streets along with the rest of the traffic that Taehyung recalled where they were going. Back to the apartment block of course.

“I’ll go over the files,” he said as he looked over at him. “As soon as we get back I’ll-”

“There’s someone that you need to meet,” Jungkook interrupted. “Someone I want you to meet in fact. He’s waiting for us back at the apartment, do you want to keep him waiting even longer?” Taehyung thought if the certain someone was the sultry male from the phone call this morning then the answer was very much: yes.

“But, Master Jeon, I should work on-”

“Ah ah ah,” Taehyung saw his arm moving and then he felt the warmth of his palm settling onto his leg. A little higher than his knee but not high enough to be considered his thigh. “You’ve worked well, Taehyung. You’ve worked very hard.” He dropped his eyes to study his hand. “Tomorrow the work continues so a little relaxation is perfectly fine.”

Taehyung was pretty certain that he didn’t breathe once over the duration of the ride to the apartment block. It was hard doing so when his mind was racing with thoughts of what exactly lay in store. Especially with Jungkook’s hand on his knee and how every now and again his thumb would lightly stroke along his trouser. How could he relax after everything he had been through? Even sleep wouldn’t bring peace to him for it would be broken and filled with nightmares and fear. Being unconscious would help, but that would require a great deal of alcohol or sleeping pills that he didn’t have access to.

Death would be pretty relaxing, Taehyung supposed.

The elevator ride was awkward and he hated it. He hated looking at that glowing floor button on the wall and knowing he was going right up to the top. But Taehyung had no choice, he had to do what The Boy wanted. That was his life right now. If he had helped murder a man and torture another then he could handle whatever was in store for him in the apartment suite. He could hear sounds standing in the hallway outside and Taehyung furrowed his brow as Jungkook pressed his thumb against the box beside the door and then pushed it open. With the door open the sound was no longer trapped so he could hear it all perfectly. Yes his assumption had been correct: he had been hearing moans and shouts through the locked door.

“Sounds like he’s still working,” Jungkook remarked as he glanced over his shoulder at him. There was a smile on his face and that was when it hit him what this was.

Jungkook was running a fucking pornography production studio in his own penthouse suite.

Taehyung froze in absolute horror and he felt his stomach drop down somewhere close to his feet. This was illegal. This was so far beyond illegal that he couldn’t even begin to process it all. As if producing the pornography wasn’t bad enough, but right here in the suite? Shit, Taehyung himself could be arrested for standing in apartment block. All of the men in that side bedroom would be thrown in jail on prostitution and pornography charges and Jungkook would have a list as long as the bible for the offences that they could list under his name. Producing pornographic material. Distributing pornographic material. Charging and profiting, directing and soliciting and-

Taehyung swallowed hard and he watched Jungkook move to sit down on a chaise lounge across the room. There was an armchair directly facing it and the young man held an arm out and gestured for him to sit in it. It took him considerable effort to move over and sit down in the chair, bare feet on the cold marble flooring. Across the ground-floor there was another room it was all happening in and Taehyung could see inside of it. There were five men inside the room and countless cameras all rigged up around a large circular bed with white and gold sheets and pillows. They were all naked though not all were taking part currently, two were standing off to the side.

“You seem surprised?” Jungkook fixed his suit jacket and then he folded his hands nearly on top of his crossed knee. “But then again, the only man outside of the apartment block that knew about my production was Nam. And we killed him so…oops.”

“Woo?”

“Woo likely has an idea but he doesn’t have solid evidence unlike what Nam had. Nam supplied me his best skin. We all have our vices and our talents. Mine just happen to be one and the same. Would you like something to drink?” Jungkook asked as he shifted to get off the settee. He managed to mumble something in agreement as the young man went across the suite in the direction of the kitchen.

Taehyung didn’t want to look but the chair that Jungkook had forced him to sit in was directly opposite to the other room. The doors were wide open, slide doors of course, and he could see the bed perfectly even though he wished that he couldn’t. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because he could hear it all and no amount of walls would block that. The worst part was knowing that Jungkook had seated him there on purpose. The young man wanted him to see it because he knew. Deep down just like Nam, he knew exactly what he was and this was just another way of getting under his skin. A free porno just for him, hell he even had his type featuring.

Right now, with every fast glance he aimed up at the doorway he could see that tangle of bodies. The cameras blocked some of the view but not all of it. He could see clearly enough to see one young man, who he thought would be best described as a pretty boy, taking it right up the ass. He was mostly on his hands and knees, or he was until one of the other men grabbed his wrists and forced them behind his back so his head could be held down against the mattress. The sounds coming out of pretty boy’s mouth were unreal and Taehyung wished that they didn’t make his own mouth feel dry and his pants suddenly too constricting. Now he was just on his knees, being thrust into so fast and hard that Taehyung could hear the contact across the suite: skin against skin. Even when he looked away he could hear it.

Jungkook came back over and he held a glass of champagne out to him so he accepted it. Then the young man was settling back down on the chaise lounge, leg cocked up and arm stretched over the top in a position that showed absolute comfort. Taehyung had his knees pressed together tightly for fear of him seeing the growing tent in his trousers.

“Ah, look who it is!” Jungkook announced and when he dragged his eyes away from him he saw that massive cat heading right their way. The one from the intercom feed. It had looked like a fucking leopard then and it looked even larger in reality. It was easily the size of a dog with golden and speckled fur and large green eyes. The tips of its ears had little tufts of black fur on them. “Did you miss daddy, mmm?” The cat leisurely stalked right over to Jungkook and proceeded to rub its head against his knees. So the young man reached down to stroke at her head, eliciting a purr like that of a car engine.

“Master Jeon? Did you steal that cat from the zoo?” Taehyung joked, hoping his voice didn’t sound too strained and awkward. At his words the cat opened its eyes and looked right at him; gaze piercing into his very soul. Then it was heading his way and he had to steel himself because it was so fucking intimidating seeing a cat that large.

“If you think Wangbi is wild, you should meet her owner,” Jungkook remarked as the cat stood on her hind legs to sniff at his face, forepaws on his knee. Taehyung felt like he might just lose most of his skin and his nose should the animal decide she didn’t like him.

“She…she’s very beautiful,” he managed to say, not meaning to stutter but finding it hard to talk with a wet pink nose floating right in front of his own. “I’ve never seen a cat like this before.”

“Considering her breed I’m not surprised. Ashera. Jimin just had to have her.” Jungkook rolled his eyes at this and Taehyung wondered if that was Doll’s real name. And on the tail of that thought he wondered which one of the men in the bedroom he was. “Cost a lot of money but for quality like that…what can I say?”

“She’s very…high quality,” he agreed. It was like talking about a car rather than a cat and he wondered if he would refer to Jimin in such a way.

“You can stroke her,” Jungkook said as the cat blinked languidly at him. “You can stroke her owner too, though it sounds like he’s being stroked just fine right now.”

To prove his point there was a series of breathless cries from the bedroom and Taehyung avoided looking at him. He couldn’t avoid looking at the bedroom doorway however to see pretty boy being bearhugged from behind as he rode one of the men. His thighs were splayed wide open and every up and down movement of his hips caused his cock to bounce, hard and demanding attention as a rather weak spurt of precum dribbled out to land on the silk sheets. Pretty boy whined as he dug his heels into the bed for purchase and when he looked up his eyes locked right onto his.

Shit Taehyung had just made direct eye-contact with him. He had made eye-contact with pretty boy after staring at him and his leaking cock and he could see that he was smirking at him. Taehyung decided that that was enough looking and he turned back to Jungkook. He was staring at him too and he suddenly felt like he was trapped. This was worse than helping him wrench Howon’s teeth out, Taehyung was convinced.

“Go on, stroke her, Taehyung,” Jungkook said with a smile on his face. Christ, he was enjoying this too much. It was almost sadistic how much Jungkook was enjoying seeing him squirm. So Taehyung reached out and let Wangbi sniff at his hand before gently placing it on her head. Her fur was so very warm to the touch and his fingers trailed along and down to the ruff of fur around the back of her neck.

“ Yes, yes!” pretty boy cried out from the bedroom, in full actor mode. “ I want your cock, baby, I want it. Ah! Give it to me! ” Taehyung felt his own erection twitching at this and his fingers snagged around Wangbi’s fur involuntarily.

“What does she feel like?” Jungkook asked as he cocked his head. Taehyung muttered that she was beautiful, that she felt beautiful through his gritted teeth. This made the young man smile for some reason.

If pretty boy didn’t stop making those noises soon then he was very much certain that he was going to cum in his trousers. If it wasn’t so goddamn obvious he would excuse himself and go into the bathroom but he couldn’t. Jungkook would know that he was in there jerking himself off like a horny teenage boy and he couldn’t have that. This was a battle of wills with him right now and he wasn’t going to lose. He was determined to show Jungkook that his little sadistic game wasn’t getting to him, that he could keep his cool. Except pretty boy wasn’t going to stop making noises and help him win because he was now sandwiched between two bodies, looking so very small and delicate and yet apparently capable of taking two men at the same time.

Jesus Christ.

It was another few minutes until the activity in the bedroom stopped and when it did Taehyung almost cried in relief. The men involved all left the room one by one fully dressed without saying a word, without even looking at Jungkook or him. Jungkook stared at him enough for all of them however, for his eyes almost burnt into his face. He didn’t see pretty boy leave. He did however hear the sound of a shower bursting to life from somewhere else in the penthouse and when the sound cut off shortly afterwards Jungkook seemed to have gotten bored of staring at him.

“Babe, are you finished?”

“Yes, darling,” a voice called out, one that he was pretty fucking certain that he knew. In fact he was certain that he had heard it screaming out and moaning for quite some time now. But Taehyung still gnawed on his lip in nervous anticipation anyway. There was a flash of movement across the room a moment later, a sudden flash of what looked like black silk, and then he was stepping out of the bedroom to enter the main area.

Of course Jimin was pretty boy.

The sight of him slinking across the room in that ridiculous silk bathrobe was enough to make Taehyung’s heart do the triple jump in his chest. It was so short and it was rather pointless he wore it all things considered. When Jimin bent down to kiss Jungkook the bathrobe shifted and revealed most of his ass. Taehyung stared at the soft rises of flesh, mottled bruises running up his very inner thighs up and to-

He dragged his eyes away to look at Wangbi instead. The cat stared at him with an expression that said he had been caught out. Staring like a fucking pervert.

“Oh, he’s a pretty one isn’t he?” Jimin declared as he moved to sit on the armrest right beside him. Like he could talk. Taehyung stared at him dumbly and he laughed. “Such big eyes! Did you enjoy the show? I saw you watching me.” He moved one of his hands over to run it up the back of his arm. Taehyung wanted to respond to this but all that came out was a stammered load of nonsense.

“Keep asking him questions like that and you’ll see how much bigger his eyes can get,” Jungkook remarked as he lifted his glass and took a deep swallow of champagne. “Did you collect the order, babe?”

“Of course I did, I always do what you ask me to,” Jimin replied as he moved to pluck the champagne glass out of his fingers. Taehyung let him have the untouched drink, for he had lost interest in it. He had been too scared of choking on it earlier and making a scene. Jimin lifted the flute and quaffed it hard, throwing his head back and swallowing it in one mouthful. Then he leaned over to place in on the opposite armrest and his chest almost brushed against the end of Taehyung’s nose. He smelled perfume and scented lotion that he was more than certain was cocoa butter. Of course he would smell as delicious as he looked and- “It’s in your office, darling.”

“Taehyung keeps performing so well that I keep needing to keep track of his rewards,” Jungkook said as he shifted to place the empty glass beside his feet. “First Nam, yesterday evening and today another helping hand.”

“Oh Nam?” Jimin turned his head to look down at him and Taehyung risked a quick glance up at his face. God, Jungkook had wonderful taste not only in suits and cars it would seem, for Jimin was absolutely gorgeous. He looked to be a little older than Jungkook, so perhaps closer to his age instead. Black hair and tanned skin that almost glowed under the suite lights, he had rather small features: thin eyes that currently still had the smudged remains of kohl around the lash line that the shower water hadn’t washed free, a delicately pointed nose. But his lips…his lips were the feature that stood out the most to Taehyung’s eyes. Plush and perfectly shaped, lifting to show a rather mischievous smile. What would it feel like to have those lips pressed against his, he wondered? “You helped clean up that little mess?”

“I…I did,” Taehyung managed to reply through a rather restricted throat.

“Did you enjoy it?” Jimin asked, and the sudden question caught him off-guard. He stared at him and from across the room came soft laughter, from Jungkook of course. “You don’t have to be ashamed to admit it if you did. We understand, don’t we, darling?”

“More than anyone else,” Jungkook agreed in an amused tone.

“I…I was scared,” Taehyung said in a near whisper. Jimin’s hand moved from his own thigh to touch the back of his head and he realised that he was stroking his hair. Just like Jungkook had done that night with Nam, just like he had done to Wangbi a moment ago. “I dunno what I felt. I was just scared.”

“Scared of being hurt, or scared of the power?” Jimin asked him as his fingers played with the lengths of his hair.

“Of being caught,” he explained and for a few seconds the penthouse fell silent. Then the two other men were laughing at what he had just said and Taehyung felt his heart skip up into the back of his mouth. “Wuh-what?”

“Caught?” Jungkook grinned at him and then once again, he was given a brief applause. “A wonderful joke there, Taehyung. Caught by whom? The police?” Taehyung stared at him for a moment and then he let out his own sheepish laugh. “Which one is it, being hurt or the power, Taehyung?”

“I…I dunno, Master Jeon I-”

“Master?” Jimin raised his eyebrows at this. “Is he still making you call him ‘Master’?” Jungkook explained that only in front of Haedogje Pa men did he need to use the title. “Good, let him call you something more fitting.”

“Like?”

“Brat prince,” Jimin joked and it made Jungkook sigh and reach up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. “Fucking Nam was a pig but that was a good one, I’ll admit to that. Is the reward Taehyung earned for getting rid of him in your office?” The other man agreed with a nod that that was the case. Jimin moved so fast that Taehyung caught a waft of perfume and then he felt his lips brushing against the side of his head. His finger snagged in the back of his hair, no longer stroking. The sensation of them pulling caught him by surprise and he felt a hard throb between his thighs.

“Any time you want, you and me in the bedroom,” Jimin breathed against his ear as his fingers trailed down his neck. His other hand moved over to press right down on his crotch and Taehyung swallowed a moan. “We can set up the cameras and the whole world can watch you fuck me. How’s that for a reward?” The heel of his hand ground down and his fingers seized hold of the fabric of his trousers. “Even Jungkook can watch, he likes watching.” Then he was shifting to sit back upright again and Taehyung felt a hot wetness against his thigh and he just knew that Jimin knew what had happened.

“Get the box,” Jungkook ordered as he ran his own fingers along his spare cushion beside him. Jimin got off the armrest, sparing a final smirk back at him before he crossed the room and went in the direction of the staircase. Taehyung didn’t watch him ascend but he heard the soft padding of his bare feet as he disappeared out of sight. He returned a minute later carrying a thin and small wooden box which he then handed to Jungkook. There was no table between the pieces of furniture and so Jimin shifted to get on his hands and knees with a wide smile, just like a cat. Jungkook got to his feet and he placed the wooden box down on his spine. Then he hunkered down in front of him, elbows folded on his thighs.

“Open the box, Taehyung. Your reward is inside.”

Taehyung eyed the box for a few seconds because he didn’t the know what to expect. It was a dark wooden lacquer box and it was fragrant with something that smelled like polish. Perhaps it was the wood or perhaps what was inside. Then he reached over with slightly shaking hands and he popped the two gold clasps on the front up so that he could lift the lid. Inside there was lush red silk lining and nestled inside of that was a cold unmistakable gleam of black steel.

Chapter Text

When Taehyung opened the case Jungkook could see that he was steeling himself for something. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was steeling himself for but he still did it, still bit down on his lower lip hard and narrowed his eyes in something that seemed like anticipation. Taehyung was probably terrified of the idea of opening it to see some grisly fetish inside: a cut off cock or a mound of crushed teeth inside the box. Like something a pet cat would bring to its owner; a chunk of grizzled meat to please them. Jungkook wouldn’t do something like that, wouldn’t make anyone open a box to find a fetish inside.

Well, not as a gift anyway.

So when Taehyung pulled the lid up fully to glance inside and he saw the gun his expression shifted completely. His mouth dropped open in a soft ‘o’ of surprise as his eyebrows lifted. Then he looked up at him rather dumbly, his lips not even moving to show that he was trying to speak. Was it surprised delight that had him speechless, or fear like always? Most men would cum in their trousers at the thought of getting a gun all for themselves but Taehyung was unlike most men. Jungkook had noticed that upon first glance and the more time that he spent in his presence the more obvious it became.

“You were right,” Jimin remarked with a laugh as he looked at Taehyung from his awkward position on his hands and knees. “His eyes really can get bigger.”

“A…a gun?”

“Yes, a gun just for you,” Jungkook said with a grin. “You need it. Go on, you can look at it properly. It’s a Cz75 Shadow,” he explained as Taehyung lifted it out of the box. Tentative touch, fingers clearly shaking as he did. He didn’t look at it like he had never seen a gun before, rather he just looked surprised by the fact he had been given one. “Commonly used by law enforcement. All you need to know is that it’s reliable, it has low recoil, and it’s beautiful.”

“Master Jeon, why-”

“Jungkook,” he corrected.

“Jungkook, why do I-I need a gun?”

“Men in close vicinity to me occasionally find themselves…in danger,” Jungkook explained as he watched the other man turned the gun over in his hands to study it. He pressed down on the magazine release and caught the magazine in his hand perfectly, showing that he clearly knew how to work a gun. “Empty magazine. You will get a full clip before leaving the apartment but not when inside. You understand yes: precautions.”

“Oh? Of course, of course I understand,” Taehyung said as he looked at the empty magazine and then back at the gun.

The Cz75 Shadow was not too dissimilar to his own gun except it was much thicker. The solid steel was coated in a black polymer blend so that it was matte rather than glossy metal, and the muzzle was rather flat. The safety was also set just above the grip rather than next to the hammer, the black slide switch longer than the one on his gun. It was a thick gun but in no way unattractive. It might not look sleek but it was deadly, and its true beauty lay in its lethality.

“Have you ever handled a gun before, Taehyung?”

“I served my military conscription before entering Lim’s service,” Taehyung explained. “I know how to work firearms, you don’t need to worry about that, Jungkook.”

“Good.” Jungkook lifted the case off Jimin’s back and placed it on his lap instead. Jimin shifted to get upright off the floor and he went over to the kitchen to no doubt get some more champagne. “As I said, it helps to keep my men armed in my company. Not because guns are needed, but the threat of them certainly keeps brothers on their toes. You’re no different. You need a gun too, Taehyung, so that they all know that you’re mine and you’re not to be messed with.”

At the word ‘mine’ Taehyung looked up sharply, hands shoving the magazine into the well hard. He didn’t even blink at the crisp clicking sound it made.

“Do you like your reward, Taehyung?” Jungkook asked as he cocked his head at him, soft smile playing at the corner of his lips. He knew that it was a rather pointless question because Taehyung would be certain to say yes to him. Of course he liked it, of course it was great, the best, fucking amazing and everything else. No one would look him in the eyes and say no, except his own father.

Taehyung placed the gun back into the case and he moved it onto the armrest of the chair. Then he shifted to get off the seat and Jungkook had to move back to avoid them slamming their heads together. He didn’t know what he was doing but when Taehyung got onto his knees he figured it out very quickly. The other man was kowtowing to him, leaning forward to press his palms down onto the marble flooring and then lowering his head to finish the full bow. Taehyung had his forehead pressed against the floor in a sign of near ultimate servitude. Wasn’t that just a beautiful sight to behold? Jungkook reached down to place his hand on the back of his head, his hair against his fingers so inviting; asking to be pulled on.

“What is this for, Taehyung?”

“Thank you, it’s a thank you,” he replied, keeping his forehead pressed against the flooring. “And a promise.”

“A promise?” Jungkook looked across the room to see Jimin glancing over with interest too, in the midst of pouring out a glass of champagne at the kitchen counter. A promise for what exactly? “Taehyung?”

“A promise that no man, stranger or a Haedogje Pa brother, will even think about touching you,” Taehyung explained as he sat upright again, hands on his knees. “I won’t let ‘em. I’ll stop ‘em.”

Jungkook studied his face to see that was being serious, almost fervently so. This was a solemn promise, but it was also a deadly threat. Taehyung was swearing fealty to him right now. Not fealty to Haedogje Pa and his brothers. To his father and the empire. He was swearing it to him and him alone.

My oh my.

Jungkook reached out to put his hands on his shoulders and he told him to go back to his room and get some rest. He was going to need it and he had earned it. So Taehyung collected the gun case and once again gave him a quick bow. Gave one to Jimin too and made him laugh sweetly at the sight as he moved to sit down on the bed. He wasn’t often on the receiving end of bows, all things considered. As soon as he had left the penthouse Jungkook got up off the floor to cross the suite.

“Where are the uppers, babe?” Jungkook asked as he opened the dresser drawer and saw the Valium. Jimin asked him why he wanted them, sipping at his champagne as he did. “I have work to do, coffee won’t scratch my itch and keep me awake. I need a nice hit.”

“Office room, you always leave some uppers in there for convenience, darling.”

So Jungkook went into his office and sure enough he found what he was looking for. In the top drawer of his desk was the prescription bottle of Adderall. A smarter alternative to cocaine right now. That was only fun when he could play with Jimin, and currently that wasn’t on the cards. He needed to do work, playtime would have to wait. He sat down in his chair and knocked back two of the white and orange pills dry as he grabbed the mouse in his free hand and moved the cursor across the left monitor. He opened the security system to the apartment block as he ran his tongue around his mouth, tasting the remains of the gelatine coating lingering. After a minute of checking he located Taehyung’s room number and he flicked through the feeds until he found the best camera.

Taehyung was lying in bed currently, possibly naked but likely wearing underwear. He couldn’t see with the covers in place. The camera of choice was #5, located in the top corner of the room behind the bed. As a result Taehyung was lying upside down in the feed, head at the bottom of the screen. He seemed to be awake judging from the sight of his fingers playing with the sheets and how he had an elbow cocked so he could lie on his side with his head resting on his palm. He was doing absolutely nothing of interest on the feed at all, clearly just waiting to fall asleep.

Jungkook just wanted to keep an eye on him, was all.

By the time the kick hit him he had already checked his voicemail and jotted down notes in his notebook to follow up on: to keep an eye on certain men or to initiate negotiations in regards to trades. He felt the surge in his chest first, a bloom of heat that made his pulse get a little too fast, and as it spread out he felt whatever tiredness that had been in his limbs being replaced by vitality instead. His concentration was sharp once more and he felt alert and damn near immortal. Jungkook scanned the list of incoming emails with a bored expression. All of them were the same old shit that Woo would soon sort out for him and reply to, unimportant and pointless shit. He considered getting the man to set up another address but knew that it would be pointless. Better to just let all emails come through to this one for the duration of the year before the fresh switch up to a new address next month.

A bunch of correspondences regarding tributes and gifts. Inquiries about everything and any-fucking-thing. Where were the important ones? Surely at least one email had came through addressed to him rather than Woo? He ran his forefinger along the screen and that was when he located a very familiar address.

“Thank fuck…” he muttered as he opened the file and scanned the message. That was tomorrow’s plans sorted out then. Jungkook lifted his phone to his ear after dialing Woo and he glanced at the screen to see Taehyung rolling onto his back in a rather restless and unsettled manner, dark hair fanning across the pillows. As usual Woo answered on the third dial even with it being 1am in the morning. The man didn’t seem to sleep and Jungkook wondered what he took to keep himself awake. “Tomorrow I have to collect important documents. From Songpa-gu, the syndicate has the dirt that I wanted. I’m going to meet with Seokjin in the morning and get them whilst also collecting the earnings report from the casino. Two birds with one bullet.”

“ Should I move your schedules aside and sort a new timetable out, Master Jeon? ”

“I would like it if you attended for me.”

“ Master Jeon, I don’t think that’s entirely possible. I have to meet with the heads from Dongdaemun-gu tomorrow because of the change yesterday morning. Then I have to be in Dongjak-gu for your father, and I have plans following this for the rest of the day. ” Woo paused and then added. “Plans on your behalf. ”

“I see.” Jungkook reached up with his free hand to wrap a finger around a lock of his hair. He fiddled with it absentmindedly.

“ I mean, there are minor meeting with tributaries that I can cancel and have gifts and documents brought to your men. You could check them over without needing to be present. But I do need to reschedule the meeting with the heads of Yongsan-gu because- ” Woo carried on talking and unsurprisingly he lost interest almost instantly. Jungkook had to keep his sigh trapped in his throat instead of vocalise it. His eyes wandered across his desk and then he glanced at the computer screen for a second. He was just about to look away again when his attention was seized and he turned his head to look at it again.

Taehyung was touching himself on the camera feed.

“…Fine, do that. Bye.” Jungkook ended the call and shifted to cock an elbow up on the table as he got closer to the screen. Maybe he had been mistaken, had just caught Taehyung in the middle of moving so that it looked like he was. But after a few seconds he saw that that was not the case.

The man was lying in the bed with the sheets up to just his lower ribs and he was most certainly masturbating. There was no way of mistaking it, Jungkook had seen the routine over and over so often now that he knew it was true. Taehyung was jerking off under the bed covers like a recently blooming teenage boy that was scared of being caught in the act. But he had still been caught out anyway because he was most certainly not being discreet about it. It was clear that Taehyung too had seen this routine over and over; had danced this step very frequently.

“Are you watching him?” Jimin asked from his position in the doorway. He was lounged against it, the silk bathrobe rustling as it brushed against the wood. The lengths reached his mid-thighs and he had the sleeves rolled up his forearms. “He must be doing something very interesting.”

“Taehyung is…finding it very hard to sleep,” Jungkook remarked as he shifted his gaze up to look at the other man. “I think he’s thinking about you.”

“Don’t they all think about me?” Jimin cocked his head with a rather proud smile and then he seemed to think something over. It was the way that his gaze shifted down to look at the back of the monitor screen and how the corners of his lips dropped ever so slightly.

“Come on over, you can watch too, babe.” Jungkook invited with a curl of his fingers. So Jimin moved from the doorway to cross the room and sit down on his lap. On the screen Taehyung was still masturbating, the steady movement on his arm all that he could see because the covers were blocking the rest.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Jimin said in a rather disappointed tone. “I was hoping that we would see more.”

“Don’t you like teasing, babe?” Jungkook asked with a soft smile as he studied the back of his head.

“You think he’s teasing us?” he asked as he glanced back at him. “Like he knows there are cameras?”

“He knows there are cameras. He was looking right at one earlier. If he doesn’t know then he should at least expect the possibility, which would make the bathroom a smarter choice. Of course there’s cameras in there too but…” Jungkook lifted his hand and pressed his index finger against Jimin’s lips. “You gave Taehyung a show earlier, so now he’s giving us one back.”

“I told him that you like watching,” Jimin said as he turned his head to look at the screen, knocking his finger away in the process. “Oh, wait.”

On the screen Taehyung had finally pulled the covers down and the sight it revealed was enough to have Jimin making appreciative noises. His underwear was still snagged around his thighs because he had clearly eased himself into this, had given into the urge after trying to ignore it. The white cotton clashed against his tanned skin wonderfully and he struggled to free himself of the underwear as he carried on pumping his fist. Jungkook saw a weak dribble of precum on his lower stomach, glistening in the thatch of his pubic hair.

“You should upload this onto the website. Voyeuristic secret cams always do well. Some guys just like watching pretty boys jerking off like a fly on the wall. And he looks pretty. Really pretty. What’s the audio like?”

Jungkook shifted to move the mouse and with a few tweaks here and there he turned the sound for the feed on and it came out of the speakers full volume. The office room filled with the sound of Taehyung jerking himself off hard, the sound of his cum-slick fist pumping around his cock and thumping down onto the base with a wet slapping sound. Under this was the soft creaking of the bed springs as the man lifted his hips up and thrust them rather uselessly. But the best sound by far was the deep moans of pleasure coming out of Taehyung’s slack lips. He wasn’t even trying to muffle himself but he did have his other arm over his eyes so that they were blocked from view. That was a sign of something close to shyness, or maybe shame.

Taehyung most certainly knew that he was being watched.

“Shit, darling, he sounds good,” Jimin said as he turned to look back at him. “He would be fantastic on camera. Imagine how many users would pay to watch this shit? And then imagine how many would pay for actual fucking?”

“I know he would, babe, but this isn’t going on the website.”

On the screen Taehyung moved his arm from his eyes and he let go of his cock to slip his right hand down between his thighs. Jungkook knew what he was doing and he felt a wonderful little throb in the pit of his stomach. Because of the leaked cum Taehyung could easily slip his fingers inside of himself and as he did he arched his back and took several hitching breaths. His left hand went back to his erection and he awkwardly tried to carry on pumping his fist. It didn’t take much of this before Taehyung orgasmed. The sensation of his fist and his fingers curling up inside of him made the man throw his head back against the pillow and with a few hard bucks of his hips he ejaculated all over his stomach. Jungkook watched the several strings spurt out over his tanned skin, splashing up high enough to land on his throat, and he felt the tip of his tongue sticking out to wet his lips.

“This is going in the private collection,” he finished as he watched Taehyung’s comedown from his pleasure, watched him slip his fingers out from between his thighs and shift to spread out on the bed messily, chest rising and falling rapidly slick with sweat. Soft whimpers came out of his open mouth and he reached up to brush his hair off his brow.

“When do I get to reward him?” Jimin asked as he shifted to look at him. He did so purposely slow to brush against his crotch and he straddled his lap so that he could look at his face fully, slipping his arms around his neck.

“Soon, we need to…to ease into things. Think of it like fishing.” Jimin told him that he had never been fishing before. “Well, to catch a fish you need a hook, bait and much patience. Now I’m the hook and Taehyung is the fish. What does that make you?”

“The bait,” Jimin said with a wide grin.

“The delicious bait,” Jungkook agreed as he reached up to place his hands on the backs of his thighs, grip firm. “Taehyung isn’t like us, babe. He’s not open about things, but he will be in time. That’s why we needed to bait and tempt him out. What you just saw on the livefeed? That was proof that your baiting is working. Let Taehyung think about you, get under his skin. Then when the time comes…” Jungkook paused and smirked at him. “Taehyung will stick his ass right in the air for you. He’ll be begging you to fuck him.”

“What if he doesn’t bite?” Jimin asked him in a quiet voice as he trailed his fingers along his upper thigh slowly.

“He will,” Jungkook said as his gaze shifted to look back at the computer screen. “I know he will.”

A car ride had never felt as awkward in his entire life as this one currently did. Taehyung could recall a few vivid memories involving cars; from fracturing his wrist aged seven at the park and being driven screaming and crying to the hospital by his father, to awkward heavy petting in the backseat of a high school friend’s brother’s car, whose face he couldn’t seem to recall right now. Even the aftermath of Nam’s murder had involved a car but this…this was something else entirely.

“What’s the plan today, Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked as he forced himself to drag his eyes away from the window and look at him. He never knew what was happening each day and he guessed at some point he might just end up with a schedule of some sort. “Another meeting?”

“Not exactly a meeting,” Jungkook replied. He seemed nice and content, almost relaxed. He didn’t look like he had slept much and Taehyung wondered why. As if he didn’t know the answer to that question. He assumed that maybe the young man had snorted a line or three before stepping out of the elevator this morning and he wouldn’t at all be surprised. “More a…a transaction. A business transaction if you will.”

“Will I have to assist you?” Taehyung didn’t have to specify what he meant by for this, for it was pretty obvious. What he meant was: “do I have to mutilate a man today?”, “do I have to help with torture?”, or “do I actually kill someone?”. The weight of the gun holster inside of his suit jacket was strange and he didn’t like it. It felt dangerous but the knowledge that this was just a transaction certainly made it feel a little lighter.

“No need to worry about violence today, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he once again placed his hand on his knee. Almost as if it belonged there now. “Today is going to be nothing more than blue skies and calm waters.”

How Taehyung could hold his eyes today he didn’t even know himself. Deep down a part of him had been thinking that Jungkook would have missed it all because he had been much too busy with work. That part of him had felt something close to relief at the idea. But then he had seen the way that Jungkook had looked at him the moment they had first locked eyes and he just knew that he had seen it all. That preternatural knowledge of his. That smirk that he had barely been able to curb when he gestured for him to follow along after him. Jungkook had seen his performance and the smirk had shown him that he approved of it. Hell, he might just have stroked himself whilst watching it.

Taehyung knew that he was playing a rather frightening game right now. After the events in the penthouse suite, the pornography and the shameless sexual tension that Jungkook seemed to greatly enjoy creating, he had started to see something close to a shortcut. A way to get as close to Jungkook as possible. Weaponising sex as a method of gaining traction and information. At one point he had thought that ass-licking and dirtying his hands would have been his way in, but now he knew otherwise.

Murder and fucking were the only ways into Jungkook’s heart and he could use both to get his own way.

Was there something strangely thrilling about the added danger, about the chasing and teasing? Most certainly, Taehyung couldn’t deny the fact that he was enjoying that part. His performance hadn’t been fake after all. He had jerked himself off just knowing that Jungkook would see it on his security cameras and that it would edge him that little bit closer to intimate knowledge and attention.

Except what had started off as thinking about Jimin and his act in the suite bedroom - really nothing different to watching pornography on a computer screen - had rapidly progressed into fantasies involving holding Jungkook down against the bed and pounding into him until the younger man had been shouting in pleasure and telling him that he was so good at fucking him.

Just like he was at castration.

And assisting in torture and murder.

Taehyung wasn’t really sure what that meant but he was trying to ignore it all.

“Not everything is violence,” Jungkook said in a strangely philosophical tone. He wasn’t going to believe that at all. Taehyung had seen nothing more than violence since sneaking into Haedogje Pa and getting close to The Boy. If a day passed that didn’t end in violence then he would plant his face firmly between Jungkook’s thighs and deliver a rather sloppy attempt at a blowjob. “Sometimes one has to bide their time and wait for it. A slow burn, anticipation if you will. It’s like waiting for a countdown to drop and a bomb to explode.”

Taehyung wondered when the time bomb he was currently strapped to would go off and if he was going to end up blowing himself up with it or blowing up an empire.

When the car pulled up outside a building he looked out of the window to see something that looked like a small office block. It was just three stories high including the ground floor and it was made from solid concrete and had no windows. Just a set of glass revolving doors. This looked nothing like the building they had previously visited, the brick boarding house styled ones. It looked completely different and he climbed out to hold the door for Jungkook and then he followed him across the sidewalk to get inside. Taehyung was surprised by how…official this place looked. All business rather than shady deals in strip club backrooms. There was a well lit and rather welcoming entrance area with carpeted flooring and a long stretch of glass and wood counter. There was even a secretariat on the desk and she bowed deeply the moment she laid eyes on them both.

“Master Jeon, right this way.” She ducked out from under a partition and then hastily crossed the entrance to lead them through a door. She held a silken red curtain divider up for them and then carried on walking across the massive new room. It was filled with desks and computers all placed in the centre of the room, on which men and women were all working away. On the far wall was a massive projector screen covered in what looked like stocks to his eyes though he wasn’t at all sure, and below that was a rolling bulletin filled with more names and numbers. Along most of the walls there were also doors that led into other small rooms and Taehyung glanced into them as they passed. There were only women inside these rooms and they were dressed to the tens in gorgeous evening gowns. Most of them had low plunging necklines or bodices that pushed their breasts up high and firm. Hair perfectly styled, makeup like that he would expect to see on a red carpet event, they were all in front of massive computer monitors and seemingly hooked up to webcams. As they passed one of the booths he heard a woman with a husky voice ask if someone would like to fold.

That was when he figured out what the building was. This was a casino, an online casino. There were live attractive female tellers and they were handling a series of things, from roulette to cards and possibly betting and more.

The secretariat led them across the ground-floor and then stopped in front of a closed door. She gave them both a bow and then went back the way that she had came. The sound of her low heels clicking on the wooden flooring was like that of clock fingers ticking. Jungkook glanced at him and so Taehyung grabbed the door handle and pushed it open, stepping into the room first and then to the side to let the younger man inside.

“Ah, Master Jeon, you’re earlier than I expected.”

Sitting at a wide glass and chrome desk there was a young man. Taehyung thought that he was older than he was but perhaps only slightly older. He had dark brown hair that fell over his brow in a neat fashion, and on the end of his nose were a pair of massive round glasses which he proceeded to remove and place on the desk. With them no longer on it was easier to focus on his face and Taehyung saw that he was handsome, the kind of face he expected to see on an actor. Rounded eyes, nondescript nose but full lips that were very pleasing to look at. A nice wide frame too even though he looked to be slim. Under his suit jacket he saw he was wearing a knitted waistcoat. Milky pink.

Well then, he hadn’t expected that.

“You know how I feel about tardiness, Seokjin,” Jungkook said as Taehyung closed the door behind them.

“I was just going over new applicants,” Seokjin explained as he closed the file over on his desk. “Some of the women you sell on street corners have so much more potential, Master Jeon. I aim to find every last one of them and let them show their true talents.”

“One can do maths like Einstein and still fuck like a porn star,” Jungkook retorted as he sat down in the chair. “I know a certain someone capable of both these feats.”

Taehyung noted something very peculiar about this certain scene and it was the fact that Seokjin hadn’t given Jungkook a bow, or not at least a proper one that required him getting out of his seat. No handshake either. It was almost as if there was an equal balance between them both, a strange and hard to process thought. He moved to stand behind his chair because there was nowhere for him to actually sit in the room.

“When selecting, go for the face,” Jungkook advised. “Not the tits. The face is important, costs more to fix. The tits are pretty cheap.”

“Mhm,” Seokjin’s lips pulled in slightly at this and Taehyung saw his eyes narrowing. He was looking at Jungkook in what could have been amusement. “Well,Master Jeon, it’s actually a matter of ignoring both of those things first and foremost, and instead hiring women that can tell.”

“I assumed, Seokjin, that you would only interview women that could tell. Therefore you need to narrow the choices down, yes?” Seokjin held his gaze rather confidently and he refused to be intimidated. Oh what Taehyung wouldn’t do to have a poker face like that. “Enough of this, let’s get to the important shit.”

“Of course, you’re as impatient as always I see,” Seokjin remarked rather wryly as he reached down to open a desk drawer. He pulled an thin and small envelope out and also a USB pen. All black and rather unassuming to look at. Looked like every other pen yet Taehyung knew that it contained some important shit. After all that was exactly how Jungkook had described it. “I’ll see to it that I have more information for our next meeting, Master Jeon.” He held the USB pen out to him. “Particularly in regards to Jung. It’s hard to keep both a cocaine and child pornography addiction under wraps for very long. I’m surprised that his cover lasted this long truthfully.”

“Seokjin, you truly are an angel,” Jungkook announced as he got out of the seat and leaned over to grab his cheeks in his hands. Clearly this was a regular occurrence for he didn’t even blink at the sudden contact. Taehyung found that he wasn’t that all surprised to see Jungkook moving forward to kiss him on the mouth, an open kiss but only brief and not that intimate.

“Is he a new toy?” Seokjin asked as Jungkook let go of his face and he accepted the USB pen and envelope out of his hand. Taehyung saw his eyes sliding to look at him. His gaze was strong but not intimidating.

“Mmm, well I do have a habit of breaking my toys,” Jungkook remarked as he slipped them both into his inner jacket pocket.

“Try not to break this one, he’s pretty.”

Taehyung didn’t question this as they left the casino joint. He had learnt to not question anything until he was only in Jungkook’s company. Though the chauffeur was also acceptable from what he knew. So when they had settled down inside the car only then did he take the plunge and open his mouth.

“Is…is Seokjin a friend, Master Jeon?”

“If by friend you mean ‘have you fucked him?’ the answer is yes,” Jungkook replied without the slightest hint of hesitation or embarrassment. “Before he worked for me Seokjin worked for my father, I suppose you could call him a brothel…not Madam, whatever the fuck a male term would be. Brothel Master?” Taehyung stared at him as he spoke, interest and curiosity piqued. “Whatever the case, he was one step below being a pimp on the ladder but that single step still meant that he had to work the sheets too.”

“Did…did you rescue him?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice and for some reason this made Jungkook laugh.

“Am I hero to you, Taehyung?” he asked with a smile. “Rescuing poor whores from serfdom and granting them new lives? No, Seokjin was a good fuck. A free fuck at that too. After one particularly fantastic fuck I discovered that he had quite a lot of information about clients, important clients. Turns out that some of the dumb fuckers talked to him and quite a lot of secrets spilled out. So from that point onward I discovered many other things about Seokjin. That’s why he no longer works a brothel. He earned his position unlike most of the men I have to work with.”

The vehicle fell silent and Taehyung dropped his gaze to his own lap as he thought this over. Seokjin had earned his position Jungkook had said. Earned it through years of servitude to Jeon and through sex with The Boy. Was what he was doing now a crash course in earning a position too? The murders, the torture, the…? Taehyung swallowed hard and tried to not think about what had happened last night. He found it hard enough to look at Jungkook as it was. Was this all his way of collecting points up in the hopes of not having to worry about losing Jungkook’s favour? Or was the fact that Jungkook had plucked him from the choices a sign that he was already in his favour?

“When you said files I imagined documents, folders, actual paper files,” Taehyung said to break the silence. “Why couldn’t Seokjin send ‘em electronically? Why’d we have to collect ‘em in person?”

“Never send important files electronically, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he pulled the USB pen out his jacket pocket and flashed it at him. “That’s asking to be hacked. Emails, accounts, all tracked and all hackable. But collect the information in person and you don’t need to worry about that.” Taehyung eyed the USB pen and an idea flashed through his mind. The idea of sending a pen filled with information in the mail to a certain police department across the capital. Maybe he couldn’t risk phone calls and emails for fear of being traced but something like that…

When they arrived back at the apartment block Jungkook rode up in the elevator with him and surprised him by following him into his room as opposed to up to his own suite. Taehyung quickly figured out why for the young man went over to the computer and got it out of sleep mode so that he could plug the USB pen into the computer port. He saw a box pop up on the screen telling him that Jungkook was copying the files onto the drive and he saw a whooping 20GB of information downloading onto the drive.

“I have a conference call with some Japanese realty estate agents. Get the information, wipe the USB. There’s a disposal chute two floors down. Just toss it in that,” Jungkook explained as he fiddled with his shirt cuffs to neaten them. “I can access the files from my computer so I’ll check them out when my schedule frees up. I expect you to check them over in my absence.”

“Yeah, Jungkook, I’ll be sure to do that,” Taehyung promised as he shifted to sit at the desk.

“Good,” Jungkook said as he dropped his hand onto his shoulder to squeeze it firmly. Taehyung wished that hearing that would didn’t make his stomach feel tight.

Whilst the files downloaded onto the drive he made some food. Clearly Jungkook had had the kitchen stocked for him at some point since yesterday afternoon. So he packed rice in the cooker and set about hastily stirfrying vegetables and slivers of beef to go into side dishes. Though the champagne bottles neatly placed in the rack were a great temptation he settled for making a pot of coffee and carrying it over to the desk instead. He didn’t eat at the kitchen counter because he wanted to keep an eye on the downloading files. By the time he had finished the meal and also devoured the leftovers rather than trash the food the download process was finished. Taehyung eyed the massive folder packed with images and documents, audio files and more. Then he decided to click on one at random. He was greeted by a photograph of a rather portly old man with a head of white hair, stepping out of a building with his head held rather low. He was about to close it when something seemed to spark in his brain and he paused. Then he eyed the photograph more closely and it hit him.

He was looking at a photograph of Mayor Jung, Mayor Jung of Yongsan-gu. He had seen the man enough times at department medal ceremonies and such to know him. Wait, what was he doing in this folder of files?

Taehyung hit the sideways arrow key and sure enough he saw successive photographs of the man, all taken at once. Then he closed the window and went back to the files. It took him several attempts to find something of interest. He scanned the text document to see random words jumping out at him. “… participating in production and distribution of files” , “… refused service by Seo who claimed he wouldn’t procure goods for his demands. Seo later had an attempt on his life and nearly died from acute poisoning.” Taehyung furrowed his brow and saw various figures and terms that he didn’t know or understand appearing on the file so he closed it and went back to looking at the photographs.

Several arrow clicks later he discovered what exactly he was in the folder.

“Fuck, oh fuck oh fuck-” Taehyung closed the window and dived back in his chair so hard that it nearly toppled backwards and spilled him to the floor. His heart felt like it was trapped at the back of his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut and let out a strangled groan. Seokjin had mentioned a certain Jung and child pornography in the same sentence earlier but he had been too stupid to figure it out until now.

Taehyung opened a Word file and he hastily typed to finish this as quickly as he could. Too scared of being caught out somehow, too scared of how reckless he was being. But he just had to do this, he just knew that he did.

The Boy’s got an online gambling company. Real deals, real cash. I think it’s connected to The Gold Monkey, Jeon’s own investment, through a syndicate. This isn’t The Boy’s investment however, this is part of his job. He uses the casino as a cover cos he also has spies in the circuit collecting info. This some of the shit they found out.

Read it all.

Don’t let Chief Superintendent General see it. Don’t let anyone but the team see it.

Swear to fucking god don’t let em see it or they’ll shut us down and destroy the mission.

The Boy’s also running an online pornography empire. Livefeeds every week and prerecorded shit uploaded daily. Dunno domain, think it’s deep web. Gotta be deep web. He couldn’t hide it for long unless it was deep web.

I swore fealty to him and only him, and I think I’m doing good so far.

I’ll try and get more info. Sorry about the delay in contact, I’ll also try and keep the communications going better. This should suffice for now, right?

Taehyung didn’t use names because that seemed too risky. He didn’t need to because Namjoon would know that it was him. No one else could have gotten the information and he trusted his teammate to accept what he had. It wasn’t enough, not by far but it was better than nothing. No direct names, nothing substantial to catch The Boy out with but still priceless information on someone else. If someone could make the connections, could get an informant into the casino to get even more details…this could be something. This could lead to the exact information that he was hoping to uncover.

The first link in the net that he was planning on throwing over Jungkook.

He saved the file straight onto the USB rather than onto the actual drive and then he double-checked that he had everything. Then, satisfied that he did he ejected it and then unplugged it from the computer and pushed his chair out to get to his feet. Taehyung collected his jacket and shrugged it on as he crossed the room to leave the apartment room. He didn’t take the elevator but instead settled on going down the flight of stairs, after all the disposal chute was just two floors below him. His bare soles padded on the wooden steps and his fingers tightened around the USB pen as he thought the plan over.

Pretend to trash the pen.

Leave the apartment and get to a store.

Buy cigarettes and a padded envelope.

Taehyung had no clue if there were cameras in the hallways but he assumed that there were. He stepped onto the right floor and lifted his gaze to stare up at the corners of the hallway but he saw nothing. They were discreet ones clearly, not like the ones in his apartment room. So when he reached the disposal chute on the far wall he reached into his trouser pocket to pull the USB free. He pulled the hatch up and leaned in to make it look like he was dropping the pen down there, the wiped and now clean pen. But he didn’t. It was all a mime act and he brought his hand back out of the chute, hastily closing the hatch and then shoving both hands in his pockets. He turned on his heel and walked down the hallway, cool and casual.

Not at all like he was planning on smuggling a USB full of documents out of the apartment block.

Taehyung pressed the button on the wall and he loosened his fingers to let the USB pen out of his grip. Then he reached up and ruffled at hair in a bored fashion just to carry on with his act. When the doors pinged open he stepped inside and hit the ground-floor option with a hard jab of his thumb. Then he leaned back against the carriage wall and it descended at that same smooth and quick speed. He ran his tongue along the backs of his teeth and wondered if this would even work. But why would they search him? A search before entering made perfect sense but leaving? There was nothing that he could smuggle out of the apartment room other furniture and kitchen utensils. So why would they do that? Taehyung knew that he was just worrying about it all needlessly and he needed to not do so. If he could keep a poker face then he wouldn’t arouse suspicion at all. But if he looked like he was up to no good then…

The doors opened and he was forced to step out the carriage. He walked surprisingly steady considering everything and went right up to the apartment check-in counter.

“I need to go out. Cigarettes,” Taehyung explained as he shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “Fucking ran out.”

The man behind the counter had shades on, ridiculous but true. It wasn’t hard looking at him because he didn’t have to meet his eyes properly. No, he just had to look at the empty blackness of the lenses and keep his gaze steady. For a few seconds the check-in area was silent and then the man’s expression shifted.

“Master Jeon’s got you working like crazy I heard,” the man remarked before grinning at him. “Yeah, no wonder you ran out. I’d have smoked about ten fucking packets by now.”

“I’d have smoked a fucking carton, Dongjun,” one of the bouncers joked in a gravelly voice.

“Ha, good one Siwon,” Dongjun said as he moved to collect something from under the counter. Taehyung saw that it was the cardboard tray with his shoes in and that meant that he had been cleared. The full and unused magazine clip from this morning was in it too, but he didn’t need that. “Might wanna buy a fucking carton, Kim.”

“Yeah, think I just might, brother,” Taehyung mumbled as he got his shoes out. He didn’t even unknot them and instead just awkwardly shoved his feet into them without a care. Unknotting and then knotting them again took too much time and he wanted to get out of the block before something could happen. Like Jungkook suddenly deciding that he wanted him called to his suite and foiling his rather perfect plan.

“Just business?”

“Huh?” Taehyung asked as his foot finally slipped into the first shoe.

“Master Jeon making you work just business?” Dongjun clarified and at this the two men across the room started laughing. Not uproarious laughter but rather soft and seemingly knowing. “Or something more than that?”

“Just…just business.” Taehyung turned back to his other shoe and he felt rather stupid right now. Hunkered down and struggling to get into his own shoes whilst the men were all staring at him. Staring at him and no doubt thinking about the kind of shit that went on in Jungkook’s penthouse suite.

The kind of shit that he had technically participated in.

Taehyung slipped his second shoe on and straightened up, cheeks suddenly a lot warmer than they had been. Yet the bouncers didn’t say a word and so he took that as a sign to leave the apartment room. At least Siwon held the door for him. The closest store to the apartment was quite a few blocks down. Having never been in Gangnam-gu before he thought that an excuse about trying to find a store would excuse how long he would be. After all it was a rich housing area, so cheap convenience stores were nowhere in sight. Taehyung walked at a fast and nervous pace and after a ten minute walk he found the store. He stepped inside and went straight across the store without even hesitating. He grabbed the smallest padded envelope for sale and then went to till and grabbed a packet of cigarettes to placed them both down.

“Hey, uh, where’s the closest post office?” he asked as the elderly man rang up his purchases. Taehyung stuck his false bank card into the card machine and quickly entered his PIN.

“Not from the area?” the elderly man asked with a smile as he hit enter, so he said something about business. “Just carry on down the street and take a right. There’s a small post office right there on the corner. Can’t miss it, got a sign on the side.”

“Ah, thank you.” Taehyung gave him a slight bow to be respectful as he grabbed the receipt and items and then he left the store to locate the post office. His directions were perfect and he saw the small brick building because of the blue and white sign on the side. So he entered it to find that it was currently empty at this early afternoon hour. Taehyung reached the counter and he realised that he didn’t have a pen. He asked the middle-aged woman behind the glass partition if she had one and she slid a marker pen over. With the post office currently being empty he didn’t need to worry about holding a queue up. So he pulled the USB pen out of his pocket and put it down. Then he uncapped the marker and jotted down the police department address in bold capital letters. He made sure to put ‘Kim Namjoon’ on the very top to ensure that the letter went straight to him first. Then he flipped it around and added his apartment room address to the back as a return address.

Not his current one but his real apartment room. The one that belonged to Kim Taehyung, vice desk officer with an addiction to trash dramas and not Kim Taehyung, Haedogje Pa member and chief torturer.

Taehyung recapped the pen and placed it back on the counter for the woman to accept. Then he opened the padded envelope and shoved the USB pen inside of it. She asked what method he would like as he peeled the tape off and sealed the envelope.

“First class, how long would it take to reach the address?”

“It would go in the late shipment and likely reach the address by tomorrow afternoon. Early, not late,” she explained and so Taehyung confirmed that he would like it first class. There was a card machine on the counter but he didn’t want to risk anything showing on bank records should Jungkook suddenly decide to do some checking and find him shipping parcels at post offices. So he covered the costs with the little cash still left in his wallet. The worker stuck several stamps to the envelope and then stamped it with a rubber pad before turning to her computer. A few seconds later she was handing him a receipt and a palmful of coins.

“Thank you,” Taehyung accepted them and left the post office. He shoved the cash and then lifted the receipt to study it. Then he scrunched it up into a tight ball and tossed it at the gutter. It fell through the slight gap in the grate and disappeared out of sight a second later.

Good.

Taehyung reached inside his jacket pocket to pull the cigarettes and brand new lighter free. He tore the plastic wrapper off and thumbed the box open to pull one out with his teeth. He lit the end and took a deep drag before letting it out on a heavy sigh.

He thought that he had earned this smoke break.

Jungkook had told him to go over the files and Taehyung did. Just not the photographs. Nothing Jungkook could possibly threaten or promise him with could possibly get him to look at a single one of the photographs that Seokjin’s net had managed to catch. The Boy could hold a gun against his head and tell him he would pull the trigger if he didn’t and he would willingly ask him to pull it. As if reading the documents on Jung weren’t bad enough, but seeing the evidence? If Jungkook had the stomach for it then let him check but he was done. Taehyung could stomach a lot more than he had imagined possible before joining Haedogje Pa, but child pornography was not one of those things.

The Mayor of fucking Yongsan-gu was a paedophile and no one even had a clue. No one except Haedogje Pa and Jungkook and it seemed that Jungkook had reasons to want dirt on the man. Why? To blackmail him with? To kill him? He didn’t really know but he did know this: the information that he had looked at, that he had passed along to the department…that was bad shit. The kind people were killed for possessing. Should he have really sent the USB pen to his teammates knowing that they could possibly be endangered for finding out this information? Taehyung was confused and conflicted but he just knew that he had had to get it out there somehow.

Namjoon and the team were the only people that he had right now outside of Haedogje Pa.

When a knock sounded on the apartment door Taehyung was brought out of his deep musings suddenly. He turned in his seat to eye it and then got upright to answer it for he had slipped the lock over. When he pulled the door open he saw that Jungkook was standing there in the hallway, once more just like yesterday evening. A good sign was the fact that he wasn’t dressed fully; jacket and shoes and gloves. No, he was wearing just his shirt and trousers and he looked to be coming down from whatever high he had been on all day. That meant that he wasn’t going to drag him across the capital to commit cold blooded murder today at least. A nice surprise.

“Good evening, Taehyung.” It only hit him then that it was in fact nearly the evening. He hadn’t even registered how long he had been looking at the files for. Time seemed to be moving much too quickly these days for him to keep track of. “I’d ask to come in but seen as I own the building I don’t think I technically need to.” Taehyung moved out of the way to allow him inside anyway and he saw that he was carrying a case much like the one he had been given last night.

“Jungkook, what’s that?”

Jungkook crossed the room to sit down at a low table close to the intercom and he placed the case down and flipped it open. Taehyung moved over to sit opposite him on the floor cushion. Then the young man was pulling a gun out of the case as if it was nothing at all.

“Beretta 92fs,” Jungkook explained as lay it gun down on the table. “A beautiful gun, don’t you think?”

Taehyung thought that it was a massive understatement. To say that it was a beautiful gun was like saying that water was wet: stupidly obvious. No, looking at the gun he thought that it was very much a piece of art. Sleek black steel that gleamed in the ceiling lights. The stock had the company logo stamped onto the rubberised grip, the three arrows and rings and the name ‘Beretta’ underneath. A single glance showed it was quality and he didn’t even need to look at the logo.

Jungkook’s fingers worked with steadiness and confidence as he started taking the gun apart in front of him. First he pressed the magazine release with his thumb and the magazine dropped to land in his opposite palm. Taehyung eyed it to see that it was empty just like his gun. Then he was removing the chamber and the barrel from the frame, and the parts all started to add up on the table. Along with these there was the slide and pins. Pins that would spring back at the cock of the hammer and then forward with the pull of the trigger. Six pieces were now on the table along with the main frame and Jungkook turned his attention to the small case to pull the cleaning equipment out.

“Jimin doesn’t like guns so I don’t clean this in front of him,” he explained as he pulled out a cloth and a container that clearly contained oil for greasing up the metal. “I’ve offered to buy him one to help him get over the fear but he’s much too scared of them. Had a few pointed at him in the past. That does make them something to be scared of, I suppose.”

“He has?”

“Before becoming mine Jimin was a prostitute, Taehyung. Having a gun pointed at him is surprisingly more pleasant than some of the horrors he could have faced.” Jungkook put the metal container down and picked up a thin pin piece to hastily wipe it down. “He doesn’t like guns, he’s thinking about the option of a blade. Just not guns.”

“Have you?” Taehyung asked. “Have you had a gun pointed at you?”

“…Once,” Jungkook explained, pausing in the act of oiling the barrel piece. He didn’t look at him but his eyes did move to study the table. “When I was a child a man pointed a gun at me, held it right up to my head in fact.” He stared at the younger man in shock. “My father pissed an associate off. Said associate ended up in a shallow grave two days later.”

“Do you want me to fill the magazine?” Taehyung asked as he watched him dabbing oil onto the cloth. Jungkook made a soft noise at this and so he moved to pick the magazine up and then pulled the packet of bullets out of the case. He might have been used to working with pre-filled magazines at the firing range for convenience but Hoseok had shown him how to fill them too, just to be safe. Only men that were expecting to fire guns carried pre-filled clips after all. He pulled eight out and placed them along the table before slipping them into the magazine, snapping them in place.

When he was done he put the full magazine down and looked up to see that Jungkook was staring at him. He was oiling the magazine well slowly, fingers curled around it as he dragged his wrist back and forth. Taehyung stared at the sight and lifted his gaze up to Jungkook’s eyes. The young man’s expression said everything that he needed to know.

Jungkook’s expression told him that that could be his cock if he wanted it to be. If he wanted he could get to feel exactly what the well was feeling right now, the press of his fingers and the warmth of his skin; the steady pumping of his wrist up and down his length.

“You’ve never shot someone before, have you?” Taehyung shook his head at this and quietly stated that his military experience had been only target practice. “Taehyung, when you pull that trigger and hear the bullet thumping into someone, there are no words to explain it. When the bullet flies free with that booming sound, have you ever thought about how it’s almost like an orgasm?”

Taehyung forced himself to hold his gaze even though he was certain that he would choke on the lump in his throat.

“Guns are such phallic things. Hard barrels, triggers that pump bullets. Didn’t you ever think about how a gun is really just like a cock ?” Jungkook explained as he started oiling faster, rubbing the cloth against the metal as if trying to remove a stubborn stain. Except he wasn’t and they both knew it.

“What about blades?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice as he watched his fist pumping around the magazine well.

“Blades are too. You wrap your hand around the grip tight…and you plunge it into a body over and over. It’s like sex, well…” Jungkook paused and furrowed his brow. “Actually it’s more like rape. People don’t really consent to being stabbed fifty-one times in the stomach.”

“Do you like that feeling?”

“I like the power,” Jungkook replied as he stopped rubbing the magazine well and dropped the cloth. Taehyung could finally swallow again though he felt like it was much too forced. An audible gulp. Then the young man started putting the gun back together again; slipping the pins in place and then the barrel and chamber. “I decided that I’m going to teach you how to tie men up. You need to start liking the power too, Taehyung. It can be a wonderful thing, a…pleasurable thing.”

“How…how are you going to teach me?”

“You’re going to tie me up, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he lifted the magazine and shoved it into the well. There was a hard and crisp click . “The only way I’ll know if you can really tie a man up correctly is to test it myself.”

Taehyung felt his heartbeat starting to get a little offbeat in his chest. Tie Jungkook up? Tie the heir of Haedogje Pa up just like Howon had been yesterday before all of his teeth had been pulled out? Taehyung wasn’t at all sure that he could just do that. The sudden reversal of their positions was something too large for him to comprehend and he was quite frankly scared of the idea. There was a part that told him that tying Jungkook up had all kinds of sexual connotations behind it. The thought of leaning over him to hold his wrists down against the armrests, faces inches apart, was enough to make Taehyung wet his lips nervously.

Jungkook turned back to the case and he slipped the gun holder up to reveal a smaller hidden compartment. Inside of it there was a tightly wound thin bundle of white nylon rope. Then he got to his feet and crossed the apartment room to pull his desk chair out. Satisfied that it had detached armrests he sat down in it and looked at him. Taehyung had little choice but to get up and go over to him.

“Of course the man will be held down for you,” Jungkook explained as he almost lounged back in the desk chair. “No need to worry about holding him and tying knots at the same time. Have you ever tied knots before like this, Taehyung?” He held the bundle up to him and he accepted it.

“Then I won’t teach you, instead I’ll test you.” He wrapped the rope in a loose cuff around his wrist first. Then he wrenched hard on the rope to cinch it in place. “Ah!” Jungkook breathed in sharply as the nylon almost bit into his skin.

“Is that too tight?” Taehyung asked in concern, eyes widening as he looked at Jungkook’s face. But then it hit him what he was doing and he felt rather stupid asking. Of course it was tight, he was supposed to be restraining him. The younger man could only laugh softly at the question. Taehyung dropped his eyes back to his wrist as he secured the knot, fingers moving quickly as he pulled the twine through.

“Depending on how much movement you want,” Jungkook said, “you can wrap around the chest to bind a man to the chair, or you can just feed the lengths around the back to the other wrist.”

“Which way should I do it, Jungkook?”

“I want you to tie me up, Taehyung,” he said without the slightest hesitation. Taehyung studied his expression for a few seconds before getting fully upright. He looped the rope up from his arm to go around the back of the chair and then around his chest like a lasso. When he pulled hard Jungkook sucked his lower lip in and bit down on it. “Knot it on both sides, it stops the rope getting slack around the chest.” So Taehyung made sure to do so. He tied the chest loop into a small knot on his left side to keep it firm and then looped it around him a second time so that it was on his right side. After knotting it securely in place he could move onto his other wrist. Just like the first time he pinned the younger man’s arm down with one hand as he looped the rope around and then pulled hard. Jungkook made another breathless noise at this and he just focused on knotting it rather than ask him if he was alright.

“Legs?”

“Legs too,” Jungkook said in a strangely flat tone.

So Taehyung dropped to his knees and he repeated the process. He fed the remaining length of rope through the space between the armrest and the seat and then wrapped it around his right ankle. Then he left a slight few inches of length before securing his left ankle to the opposite chair leg. The resulting binding forced his legs wide open and Taehyung felt his cheek brushing against his knee as he worked to finish the last knot.

“Jungkook, have I done it right?” he asked as he shifted to look up at him, fingers still working. The young man didn’t reply but he shifted ever so slightly in the chair, as much as the ropes would allow him. He could move his knees and flex his elbows but that was it. Also move his head around but that didn’t really matter. Someone would hold that still of course, just like how he had done so. Only when he saw him moving did it come to his attention that something rather…interesting had occurred.

Jungkook was aroused.

Taehyung couldn’t help but stare at the sight of his suit trousers shifting as his erection tented the fabric. As he secured the final knot tightly around his ankle he watched it give several hard twitches until his cock was straining against the material, against the zipper so that he couldn’t possibly ignore it. Jungkook was looking at him with a blank expression, holding his gaze unblinkingly when he glanced up from his crotch.

“This isn’t part of the tutorial,” Jungkook said as his lips turned up at the corners ever so slightly. “I can assure you that the men you’re tying up will hate it.”

Taehyung tried to hold his gaze but it was pretty difficult to do so. Had this ever happened to him before? Had Jungkook ever…experimented with ropes and restraints? It would make sense that he might have and his body had unwillingly reacted to past experiences…or it could be something else entirely. It could be something brand new for him, new and exciting. And there was just the two of them in his apartment room, a rather awkward situation to be in.

“Master Jeon, do you…do you want me to take care of it?” Taehyung asked in a voice barely above a whisper. A squeak of a voice in fact, so very weak and pathetic sounding.

“Have you ever taken care of things before, Taehyung?” Jungkook asked in a rather steady tone. No hints of embarrassment or nerves at all. Not like him. Taehyung was almost shaking from his nerves and the thought of it all.

“No, no, Master Jeon I’ve…I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Then why are you asking to take care of it?” Jungkook asked and Taehyung gnawed on his lower lip as he eyed the tent in his trousers. In his mind countless words were playing over and over. “‘Cos I need to please you to stay hidden and not blow my cover.” “‘Cos I need to please you ‘cos that’s my role right now.” The words that kept coming to the front of his mind and confusing him were nothing like the truth and yet Taehyung found his mouth opening and the words spilling free regardless.

“I wanna do it.”

Taehyung reached over with trembling fingers, touching along his thighs until he reached the zipper and then the buttons. He fumbled the buttons open and Jungkook didn’t tell him to stop, didn’t even say a word as he caught the zip between his finger and thumb and pulled down on it. Jungkook wasn’t wearing any underwear and when he grabbed the trouser flaps to move them aside his erection slipped free. Even with his teeth biting down on his lower lip he couldn’t help but moan at the sight; a deep and needy moan.

“I wanna do it,” Taehyung repeated as he looked at his cock and then up at his face. “Fuck, let me take care of you.”

Jungkook’s eyes didn’t leave his face once as he moved to take him in hand. Taehyung didn’t need to tease him to hardness in the slightest and so he just wrapped his fingers around his base and lowered his head. He maintained eye-contact as he pressed his lips against the head of his cock in a soft kiss. It crossed his mind just then that they hadn’t even kissed and yet here he was, on his knees and opening his mouth to lick the head of his cock as if they had been dating for months.

Jungkook took a sharp intake of breath as he ran his tongue over his head almost in an almost kittenish fashion, playing with him. He pressed soft little kisses against him and then along his length to his base. Then Taehyung stuck his tongue out and trailed the flat of it along the underside of his cock until he was using just the tip. He flicked it out across his head rapidly and then he opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around him.

“Fuck,” Jungkook cursed and he heard him trying to move against the rope. All he could really do was lift his hips slightly; he was secured in place. Taehyung held him firm in his hand as he went down further on his cock. “You feel so good Taehyung.” He gasped as he attempted to find a rhythm. Having never done this before Taehyung was still very uncertain. He bobbed back to his head and down again slowly several times. Then he tried going a little deeper. At first the sudden sensation of the man’s cock hitting the back of his throat made him gag and he had to release him and gasp for air, but Taehyung kept going deep.

It felt strangely good swallowing his cock until he couldn’t breathe, until Jungkook was moaning and telling him about how hot and wet he was. About how good he felt.

Taehyung shifted position so that he could press his crotch against the other man’s lower leg. As he pulled back up to his head he ground himself against his leg hard, the friction almost burning him as he did. He couldn’t help but moan under his breath as he planted kisses on the length of Jungkook’s cock and he was starting to hump his leg rather pathetically.

Like a dog would.

“Touch yourself, Taehyung,” Jungkook moaned as he rolled his head back against the padding. “You can touch yourself. I know you wuh…want to so do it.”

Taehyung reached down with his free hand and he awkwardly fumbled with his own trousers. It took too long and he grunted in frustration around his cock as he fumbled with the zipper. That made the other man groan and once again awkwardly buck his hips. When he finally managed to free his erection from the awkward layers of clothing and he grabbed hold he wasn’t at all surprised to find that he was already wet with precum. He was a little surprised at how wet he was for he couldn’t ever recall feeling arousal like this before.

Taehyung was almost disgusted by how much he had actually hungered for something like this. Something that wasn’t hoping to stumble across gay pornography that might have bypassed filters on websites before being flagged. This was actual sex rather than pretend and it didn’t even matter that he had Jungkook’s cock deep in his throat because he actually wanted this.

This wasn’t being fucked as part of the undercover persona to get information. This wasn’t doing so to get on Jungkook’s good side. This was because he actually wanted to do it, not because it was his job to do so. Taehyung was jerking himself off so desperately as he bobbed up and down on the younger man’s cock that he was almost choking on him; choking on the cries that couldn’t escape from his stretched out lips. He had leaked all over his fingers and trousers and his palm was slick with cum that the sensation of his fist pumping around his cock was unbelievable. A dribble of precum drooled out of the corner of his mouth and Taehyung released his cock to stick his tongue out and try and catch it. He couldn’t make a mess or he might piss off Jungkook.

“Don’t clean yourself,” the young man ordered. “I want the mess, I luh...like the mess.”

“Yes, Master-”

“Don’t call me Master, call me…slut,” Jungkook almost whined as he bit down on his lip. “Call me a slut.”

Taehyung was still holding onto the base of his cock firmly and he had been about to go back down on him when he said this. He paused, lips pressed against his head, and lifted his gaze to look at him. Jungkook was almost squirming in his seat and it was then that he realised what this was.

Jungkook wasn’t a ‘Master’ right now. He was tied up to a chair and unable to move, unable to even touch himself should he want to. He had no control at all whatsoever and yet he did. Taehyung might had been the one performing fellatio, but he controlled everything. The rhythm, how deep he went, his tongue and teeth. If he even wanted to stop then he could stop and Jungkook could do nothing. Only beg him to continue.

Had Jungkook ever been in this position before? No control, no orders, the one being used? Taehyung thought that the answer was very much: no.

“What do you want…slut?” Taehyung asked him, lips brushing against his head. The little whimper that Jungkook made at this caused a throb of pleasure in the pit of his stomach.

“I want-”

“I can’t hear you, slut, tell me what you want?” he asked, feeling a strange enjoyment out of this too. One that he couldn’t even figure out; teasing him like this when he knew just how badly he needed his lips back around his cock.

“Swallow me,” Jungkook cried out desperately as he bucked his hips at him. The head of his cock slapped against his lips and would have slipped inside had Taehyung not had his mouth closed. “All the way.” So Taehyung once again went down on him as far as he could, taking his length until he could feel Jungkook’s cock slipping down his throat and stroking at his base with his hand. When he simulated swallowing to tighten around him the other man let out a series of keening whimpers. “Shit, Taehyung.”

Jungkook sounded so weak right now it was almost laughable. He was gasping for breath with every bob of his head and he just knew that he was close to climaxing because his hips were trying to rock up into his mouth again. As if they could do anything, he was already as far down as he could go. Taehyung had thought himself the hungry and desperate one earlier, yet it was really Jungkook. How long had he been thinking about this? Since that day in Mapo-gu? How long had he been anticipating something like this? Now he was finally getting his wish and by the sounds of the moans coming from his mouth, it was worth the wait.

“Shit, if you feel as…as tight as this…” Jungkook’s eyelids fluttered, “I would…die being inside of you. I would fuh-fucking die.”

When Jungkook’s orgasm hit Taehyung gagged around his cock and he pulled his head back just in time. As he let out a breathless cry of pleasure Jungkook climaxed right into his mouth. He felt his cum spilling onto his tongue and it was hot and bitter and he could taste him. Taehyung had never tasted cum before and as he released his cock quite an amount dribbled out of his mouth and down his chin. He carried on jerking himself off hard until his own orgasm hit and an explosion of heat burst up from his loins right up to his brain.

“Oh fuh…ck,” Taehyung gasped as he dropped his head. His face bounced off Jungkook’s thigh but he was too fuzzy to possibly feel pain. From the deepest pit of his stomach he could feel delicious throbs of pleasure and they radiated out through his whole body; up to his quivering eyelids and down to his tightly squeezed toes. He took several rapid gasps and swallowed hard to try and rid the taste of cum from his tongue. It was dribbling onto Jungkook’s trousers and it would most certainly make the mess that he had wanted. Taehyung was convinced that he could just close his eyes and let the burning waves of pleasure slowly drag him down into blissful blackness but that was when Jungkook moved his leg and knocked his head to get his attention.

“You passed the test,” he said after a moment of ragged breathing. “Shit, Taehyung, I can’t feel my hands.”

“I did…good?” Taehyung asked as he shifted to look at him, chin digging into his thigh.

Chapter Text

The sight of the kitchen table in front of him, covered in plates and bowls all along the length, was something that he hadn’t expected. Taehyung had been planning on downing several cups of coffee for breakfast at 6am like he had for the last few days, yet here he was a rather reasonable hour of 8:30am standing in Jungkook’s penthouse suite. He was more than surprised by this for they usually would have been halfway across Seoul by now in the back of his car. At the end of the oaken table Jimin was sitting in a spot that looked to be for Jungkook yet the young man didn’t seem to care for he was standing just behind him.

Taehyung saw a large platter close to the centre on which a selection of fruit had been placed. All around it were small side dish bowls, with rice and finely sliced chunks of egg and meat inside. High-class, most certainly not like his usual breakfast of cold leftovers or fried shit. The bowls were porcelain and they clashed against the dark oaken wood. There were two glass pitchers on the table, elegantly shaped and filled with water and orange juice. No champagne in sight, not even coffee.

“Sit down, Taehyung,” Jungkook said despite the fact he was standing up himself. There was a glass of orange juice in his hand and he was picking at the food rather than eating it properly; popping grapes into his mouth or accepting offerings from Jimin’s chopsticks. “Do you not eat breakfast? It’s like you’ve never seen a table before.”

“No, no nothing like that just…” Taehyung paused for a few seconds and he heard Jimin laughing softly from the other end of the table. Laughing at his bewilderment of course. “It’s a surprise, Jungkook.”

“Mmm, I do love surprises.”

He lifted his eyes from the table to look at Jungkook and he felt a little twinge in his chest at the smile on his face. Ah yes, surprises. Just like what had happened last night. The light bondage and the consequent blowjob in his apartment room. Taehyung was still confused by the events and maybe a little ashamed, but it had paid off. Here he was standing in the penthouse suite, a guest for breakfast with the pair of them. Talk about an upgrade. Taehyung supposed that he should have been surprised but he really wasn’t. It was just mild shock and nothing more than that.

“Come on, sit. Before I have to force you into the fucking chair.” Taehyung took that as a cue to hurry his ass up before he pissed him off. After all Jungkook’s moods were still very unpredictable to him currently. Maybe after a few more days he would be able to figure him out better.

Taehyung felt rather strange taking food from the table this way, like he was stealing almost. But Jungkook had told him to eat and so he moved to collect several things. A bowl of rice went to the side and he added a few servings of meat to the small porcelain plate in front of him, along with two halves of the eggs and small bunch of the grapes. He thought that the idea of eating fruit with a savoury meal would be disgusting and yet rapidly found that it was not the case. After a mouthful of the chicken a ripe and sweet grape was actually rather complementary. He was eating like a fucking king and this morning his team had likely gulped down sugar-laced coffee and junk food. Hoseok had a thing for bagels that he couldn’t even begin to understand.

“Today is a busy day, Taehyung, I would advise eating a large breakfast,” Jungkook said as his fingers fiddled absentmindedly with the ends of Jimin’s hair. Taehyung paused in the process of pulling a grape free from the vine and he looked up at him. Should he ask him what he meant by that? Or should he leave it until The Boy decided to explain?

“You helped Jungkook with his gun last night, didn’t you?” Jimin asked as he picked a chunk of boiled chicken up between his chopsticks and held it out. Wangbi shifted to get onto her hind legs, stretching up with effortless grace as she snatched the chunk from him. Watching her swallow the chunk and then lick at her furry mouth contently was like watching a wild animal. “Helped him clean it?”

“I…I did,” Taehyung agreed as he looked up from the cat and at her owner. There was something hanging in the air that alluded to the idea that Jimin wasn’t talking about guns alone. After all, hadn’t Jungkook made a rather wonderful analogy between guns and cocks just yesterday evening. Swallowing the grape juice was suddenly harder than it should have been. “Jungkook told me that you don’t like guns. So I helped him, I refilled the magazine for him. I didn’t do much cleaning during my conscription. Mostly just...handling.”

Why the fuck did all words relating to guns have to sound so euphemistic?

“Taehyung might be lacking in experience but he was very helpful,” Jungkook remarked as he lifted his glass and took a sip of the orange juice. Taehyung felt his bare toes wanting to scrunch up in embarrassment and he dropped his eyes to look at the plate. “He knows how to work a gun.”

Oh, it was most certainly about the blowjob.

“Do you like guns?” Jimin asked as he carried on feeding scraps to Wangbi, seemingly uninterested in his food. He glanced between the cat and him as he did, expression showing interest. Was this a trick question? Was he even talking about guns right now?

“I don’t like ‘em but I don’t hate ‘em,” Taehyung replied as he played with the rice, moving the spoon in the sticky mound. “I just kinda understand ‘em. When you serve conscription duty they…they teach you about respect. The leftenants, the generals, they teach you that a gun ain’t a toy.”

“Oh?” Jimin’s eyebrows lifted in interest at this. He was looking at him intently and for some reason Taehyung found his interest rather nice. He could see that Jimin was actually listening to him, actually wanted to hear what he had to say. “Please continue.”

“Guns are…are dangerous,” Taehyung explained, “but guns don’t kill people, people kill people. The gun is just the delivery method. In the wrong hands a gun is lethal, but in the right hands it ain’t.”

“Hmm,” Jimin purred as his lips lifted up at the corners, “that’s an interesting way to look at it.”

“Babe, eat, stop feeding her,” Jungkook said in a voice very close to an order as he looked down at him. “I made breakfast for humans, not for Wangbi. Keep feeding her like that and she will only want caviar and fucking pheasant every day.” Jungkook had made the food? That was enough to surprise Taehyung for he had imagined a maid or hired chef would have done so.

“She’s been good, it was a reward for being good. Like Taehyung’s rewards,” Jimin replied. Taehyung had been in the act of chewing and at this he paused, the chicken suddenly losing flavour on his tongue. Turning to moist ash. What a wonderful way to remind him that he was really nothing more than a pet. “I was thinking of maybe going on a diet because-”

“No diet.”

“I saw a few boys at Choi’s latest fashion event and they were so thin and pretty. I looked fucking fat next to them and-”

“ No diet,” Jungkook surprised Taehyung by actually reaching out and grabbing a handful of his hair tightly in his fist. Jimin didn’t even make a surprised noise, barely did anything more than blink. “You’ll lose muscle mass. That’s a selling point. If I wanted a fucking twink in my films then I could have picked any of those men but I don’t.” Jungkook let go of his hair and then affectionately smoothed it down with quick strokes of his fingers. “Besides, I like you this way.” Taehyung saw the way that he smiled at Jimin as he said this, all sweet touches and words. As if Jimin’s own thoughts and wishes about his body were irrelevant. Well, he guessed they both had something in common.

Both pets.

“Yes Master, ” Jimin drawled in a rather dry tone. When Jungkook moved away to cross the suite the other man turned to look at him. Taehyung saw him rolling his eyes condescendingly and he was too surprised to even react to this. Clearly Jimin was used to this attitude because his expression hinted that he might have often rolled his eyes when no one was around to see him do so. Jimin had just opened his mouth to speak again when there was a buzzing sound from the suite. Taehyung turned his head to see that the intercom system was alerting to an incoming call and so Jungkook hit a button on it and the screen jumped to a livefeed of one of the bouncers on the ground-floor.

“Ah, that would be Hodong. Escort them up,” Jungkook said before cutting the feed off. “Impeccably timed as always. Just in time for the gala.”

“Gala?”

“Yes gala, you’re accompanying me this evening, Taehyung. I have a job for you.”

Taehyung found it very hard to finish eating the food on his plate at this. As it was Wangbi came sniffing around him when Jimin stopped handing her scraps, brushing her head against his knees and then sitting under the table to look at him with those emerald eyes of hers. Had Jungkook not just scolded the other man for feeding her he might have just risked losing a finger to give her a chunk of chicken but he didn’t want to piss him off. Perhaps sensing his discomfort Jimin made sure to tell him that he wasn’t allowed to diet either, grinning widely as he did so. Taehyung just shoveled rice into his mouth and chewed until he couldn’t really taste it.

It took perhaps two minutes until the door across the suite was being opened and in stepped two women. They looked to be middle-aged and they were carrying various things. One with glasses and her hair pulled back in a severe bun was carrying several suits in protective covers and the other had a box.

“Compliments from Lee,” she said as she bowed forward, long hair falling over her face in a curtain, and held the box out to Jungkook. It was the exact size of a shoe box except it looked to made from leather rather than cardboard. He accepted it from her without a word.

Each one of the suits were stored in a vinyl bag to keep them dry and free from dirt, clear vinyl so that the contents were visible. Jungkook had them displayed on a wood and silk screen a few feet away from the bed, metal hanger heads lightly clanging against the wood until all seven suits were hanging. Then the women were leaving the room and the sound of the door clicking shut echoed across the suite.

“Ah, Hodong is a man after my own heart,” Jungkook announced as he placed the lid down and reached inside to pull out a shoe. Taehyung could see that they were loafers and they weren’t leather but looked to something else instead. Soft and smooth black, and on the rounded toes there was a thin little cap of gold. “Calfskin, divine. The entire wardrobe sorted for the evening.”

Despite there being seven suits only two of them were of interest. The other five were apparently day suits, just jackets and a plain shirt along with pressed trousers. They looked very nice but they were simple cuts, the kind to wear to meetings and nothing more. The other two were evening suits and Taehyung saw that there was a marked difference in appearance. He knew exactly which ones would be worn to very important events and galas from a single glance.

If breakfast had been a surprise then the fact he was suddenly dragged into an impromptu fashion show between the two evening suits was even more so. Jimin moved to sit on the edge of the bed as if it was something like a photo shoot. The first was a three-piece evening suit, the jacket and trousers black with very thin pinstripes and the waistcoat solid black. Jungkook made sure to remark about how nice and narrow his waist was as he adjusted the strap on the back of it and then slowly roamed his hands over his sides. Taehyung decided to take it as a compliment. The second evening suit was something he guessed would be called a tuxedo, also black but with silken lapels that had a lovely gloss to them. After being made to try on both suits Taehyung got dressed back into his rather cheap clothes.

“This is the one,” Jungkook remarked without even asking either of them their opinions. He reached out and ran his fingers across the black suit jacket, the one with the silken lapels. “We must match, so this is the one.”

“Black is so boring, don’t you think that he would look better in some colour?” Jimin asked as he reached up and ran his fingers along Taehyung’s outer thigh. The contact caused a shiver to run down his spine but he didn’t move away from his touch. “Blue would look nice. Also greys. All shades.”

“I like the one with the waistcoat,” Taehyung added as Jimin moved his hand away from his thigh. Yet Jungkook told him that he was wearing a three-piece and therefore he couldn’t. Too much of a clash apparently.

“This is the one,” he repeated as he pulled the jacket off the bed and lifted it up. He held it against his face, the silken labels on his skin. His thumb slipped free to lightly stroke against his cheekbone. The contact was feather soft and Taehyung took a sharp little intake of breath. “You look good in silk, Taehyung…”

“Very good,” Jimin agreed from the bed. “At least let him wear a white shirt. It would look wonderful with his skin.” But Jungkook repeated what he had told Hodong that day in the store; all black always.

“The plan of action tonight is very simple,” Jungkook explained as he held the jacket out to Jimin. The other man took it out of his hand and that allowed him to place both on his shoulders. “You will enter the gala with me at exactly 8pm. Then, after some boring chitchat you’re going to leave at 8:30. There’s a building exactly three blocks east from the hotel that you’re to go to. It’s a warehouse. Inside you will collect something very important to me. There will be a man there I want you to take care of.”

Taehyung knew that he didn’t mean sexually.

“He’s a traitor trying to sell me out and I want him dead after you get what you need from him. You will be searched for weapons by my men and they will remove your gun. But you will have a nice ‘hidden’ blade on you. Get the information from him sweetly if you want but take care of him. Then return to the hotel.”

Jungkook explained this all smoothly, confidently. It hinted at a perfectly rehearsed plan and yet he was forgetting something important. Something very important. Taehyung was a part of the plan and there was a very high chance that he would fuck it all up.

“What’d he do? The traitor?” he asked. Maybe Jungkook would give him a little more information if he did, important information. After all, he had just been told that he was going to have to kill a man. Taehyung would like to know why, if possible. It could help him in trying to get the information too.

“He’s one of my father’s men. A man called Ahn, Ahn Kangho. Upon sensing his own immediate dismissal from Haedogje Pa at the behest of my succession he’s decided to cause trouble. More trouble than he’s worth,” Jungkook said with a shrug, fingers moving along his shoulders ever so softly. “He’s working for someone to try and rouse some kind of rebellion against me. I want him dead.”

A sign of rebellion? It was something that he needed to alert the others about, as soon as possible. He had no doubts that Namjoon would find this very interesting.

“I’ll give you the details later. Just know that I want him dead,” he finished as he moved his hands down the front of his shirt and back to his waist. That now rather constant habit of his. Taehyung felt unsure about the fact his hands felt so at home there. “You can do that for me, can’t you, Taehyung?”

“Yeah,” he agreed with a slow nod. “I can do that, Jungkook.”

“Good,” Jungkook smiled at him warmly.

To say that he was nervous was a major understatement but that was nothing new. These days Taehyung was always nervous, it was a feeling that he was very much used to now. If he felt anything close to calmness them there was something…wrong with the situation. Very wrong. So sitting in the back of the Mitsubishi Dignity with his fingers playing with the cuffs of his sleeves he felt almost normal. It was strange, that he could go from rather mundane daily situations to thinking that this was normal too and Taehyung guessed that the strangest part was how used to it all he was getting.

Strange and scary.

Taehyung knew that he was going to have to kill a man tonight. That part was non-negotiable. Yet he didn’t really feel a thing. He was cold and his heart kept doing fast little skips in his chest, but otherwise he felt eerily fine. He supposed it was because it had finally sank in for him. This was his life right now, no backing out, no escape. It was his life until he somehow managed to pull this all off or he was caught and presumably killed. Jungkook hadn’t told him what happened to traitors just yet but he knew that it ended in death. What about rats? He imagined that that was even worse, but right now he wasn’t going to think about that.

Had the envelope gotten to Namjoon yet? Had he opened it and checked the files? The office worker had told him that it would reach the department by the early afternoon at latest. What did Namjoon think? Taehyung didn’t know, he couldn’t really think. Would his superior report what he had sent him? He hoped not because he was uncertain what would happen. Considering the risk that he had taken to get that USB pen into their hands he would be mighty pissed if it ended up in an industrial grinder. That would be his luck though, and the knowledge that that just might happen was enough to make him groan softly under his breath.

“Taehyung?” Jungkook asked, reminding him that he wasn’t alone with his thoughts and was in fact in his company. Taehyung shifted and stopped playing with the shirt cuff. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, Master Jeon, just feeling a little…nervous,” he spoke in a soft voice, as if he didn’t want the chauffeur to hear him. Jungkook repeated the word ‘nervous?’ back at him and he could hear the amusement in his tone. “Yeah, I’ve never done anything like this remember?”

“You said that last night, Taehyung, and you performed just right.” The mention of last night was enough to have Taehyung wetting his lips. He heard Jungkook shifting and waited for his hand to land on his knee like always. Except it didn’t. It reached over to settle on the back of his neck, fingers and palm rather cool on his skin. Then he was slowly rubbing at his skin and it took Taehyung a few seconds to figure out that he was actually massaging his neck. “Taehyung, what you did to Nam. That was the finest piece of art I’ve seen in a long time. My hired thugs couldn’t cut that well. I always had to do it, but you.”

Jungkook’s fingers pressed down perfectly into his skin; pliant and soft to his touch. Taehyung closed his eyes and he could trace his fingertips much easier. It crossed his mind briefly that he could have felt this last night too. Had the younger man not been tied up, he could have felt his fingers touching his neck like this.

“You, Taehyung, are an artist, and I’ve decided how I want you to deal with him,” Jungkook said as he leaned over close enough to almost press his mouth against the side of his head. “Ahn has a wife and two kids. I want to give them all a little piece of him, to remember him by.” Taehyung turned his head ever so slightly to look at him and there was a sadistic smile on his lips. “Remove his eyes and tongue. My men can send them to his family. After that do whatever you want. I don’t care about the disposal. He’s not going to become a piece of art, I don’t give a fuck.”

“OK, Master Jeon,” Taehyung said as he swallowed hard. “I can do that.” Jungkook’s fingers carried on massaging at the back of his neck, almost in a sign of comfort. At least now he had an idea what happened to traitors. He still didn’t know about rats. The smile on the young man’s face said everything, he didn’t need to hear that one word. Taehyung just turned his attention back to the window beside him, watching the evening views go past until the vehicle was pulling up outside the hotel.

The hotel was a tall building. In fact it was massive, a towering structure of glass and concrete. He held the door for Jungkook and he ran his eyes up the exterior, trying to count the stories as fast as he could. He got to twenty-five before he had to drag his eyes away and slam the door shut. The doorway was a revolving door of glass and gilded golden metal. There was a concierge standing just inside and outside two men that looked like bodyguards. Big men, just like Jungkook’s hired thugs. The entrance had a red carpet rolled out over the step all the way along the sidewalk. Taehyung briefly wondered if this was a showbiz event before he realised that all of the people inside were going to be very rich and very powerful. It was enough to make Taehyung feel rather small and stupid.

“Have you never been to a hotel before?” Jungkook asked sarcastically as he reached down to button his suit jacket. He made sure to pull down on the waistcoat first to straighten it out.

“Uh, a few times. As a kid,” Taehyung explained as he fiddled with his own jacket. At least the black shirt didn’t really show creases…or nervous sweat patches. “It’s been awhile.”

“Yes? Well try to not stare,” Jungkook remarked as he finished securing the buttons and crossed the sidewalk. He reached out to touch his elbow lightly, guiding him towards the entrance. The men on the door didn’t even check them, didn’t ask for a name. Taehyung thought that that was a blessing because he didn’t like the idea of a roaming hand feeling a bump around his forearm and discovering the hidden flick knife strapped in place, snug in a leather holster that Jimin had nimbly fastened for him earlier. That would have certainly have made things weird.

They stepped inside the hotel, Taehyung pushing the door for him and allowing him to step out. The concierge on the door held a silver serving platter out to them, covered in flutes of champagne and a few glasses of wine. Jungkook took a glass of deep red wine and lifted it to his nose to sniff at it. Taehyung politely declined a glass, not wanting to drink anything right now. That could come later, after the important part was done with. An easy way to get numb and to forget.

“Smells cheap, will more than definitely taste like piss,” Jungkook muttered as they started walking across the main area.

Taehyung saw that it was a massive open hall, with twin sets of stairs leading up to a balcony overhead. Lots of people were inside, maybe a hundred or more bodies in tuxedos and sparkling and glossy evening dresses. The floor was a maple wood, the banister and balcony railing clear glass and gilded golden metal like the entrance doors. Taehyung spared a quick look up at the lofty ceiling to see a glass chandelier the size a car dangling from the fixture, a tiered object like a waterfall of cut crystal pieces. Then he dropped his eyes straight ahead and tried to not stare too much.

“Ah, Master Jeon,” a middle-aged man with slicked back hair called. “Glad you could make it this evening.” Taehyung eyed the man to see a golden tan and teeth so white and capped that he thought about Howon and cringed internally.

“Of course, a true businessman always makes time,” Jungkook replied, once again in what Taehyung liked to think of as ‘professional mode’. “And I am very true, Hyungsik.”

“Oh dear,” the man said before laughing. Taehyung saw his hand move to waist of the woman standing beside him. “We were just discussing the fact that Master Kim wasn’t present.”

“He isn’t?” Jungkook asked before sparing a quick look around the hotel hall. Maybe the others didn’t see it but Taehyung sensed something coming off him that showed that he was pleased. Master Kim Jinwoo perhaps? He thought that that was the case.

“Probably still in China,” an older man said as he fixed his glasses. “I believe that that was where he was last.”

“No no, Donghae, he returned three days ago,” Hyungsik corrected as he sipped at his own serving of wine. Jungkook hadn’t touched his. “His father is in Taiwan right now, that’s what you’re thinking of.” The older man made a series of noises at this, seemingly in agreement.

“Master Jeon, would know, I’m sure they’ve been in touch. Yes?”

“No, not even remotely,” Jungkook clarified, speaking through his teeth as he did. “Much too busy for idle chitchat, Donghae.” This made the old man laugh for some reason and Jungkook just set his jaw.

“After all this is just a charity gala, Master Kim must have a hundred charity auctions a year. I’m sure this one gala means nothing,” Hyungsik remarked with a smile. A few of the guests gathered around laughed or agreed verbally and yet Jungkook said nothing.

There was the beginnings of a rather spoilt-looking pout on his lips. Either Jungkook didn’t like not being the centre of attention or he didn’t like Master Kim being it. It was hard to tell but Taehyung found the expression strange. Not only because he had never seen it before but because of how human it looked. His fingers were tight around the wine glass and he wasn’t even bothering to swirl it around for effect. Clearly he wanted this conversation to end, fast.

“Master Kim is doing fantastic with his investments, I’m not surprised that he couldn’t arrive this evening,” the woman said with a smile. “Why I heard that this month alone he’s brought in close to-”

Jungkook upended the glass of wine right into the plant pot in the middle of the conversation, even with the guests looking at him. When a serving boy passed he stuck the empty glass on his tray and then made an act of wiping his fingers on his jacket ends, as if removing dirt.

“I’m sorry, you were saying, Jisoo?” But the woman just made a soft noise and shook her head, signalling that her point was irrelevant. Taehyung saw her smile falter ever so slightly at the corners. “Ah, I thought we were discussing something important. Evidentially not. Regardless of whoever showed their faces tonight, it must be very apparent that my father isn’t present.”

“But of course, Master Jeon,” Hyungsik agreed, and at his side Jisoo nodded much too enthusiastically. “Your father is quite possibly the busiest man in the entire country. Some would say the world.” Another series of laughs, clearly Hyungsik was the comedy entertainment. Taehyung thought he had seen better comedy on a KBS drama.

“I’m afraid only I’m present for the evening, or at least until business calls me too.”

“Is this an associate of yours?” another man asked, this one tall and thin with greying hair. He gestured at Taehyung rather unabashedly, as if he was several classes lower than them and could be pointed at. Taehyung was too anxious to really care.

“Yes, an associate,” Jungkook agreed. One side of his mouth lifted at this as he reached around and Taehyung felt his hand on his waist for a few seconds before he removed it. Not before everyone saw the action though. “A rather fan-tastic associate,” Jungkook dragged the word out for emphasis, “but you must excuse us. I have to make my rounds of course.” The other guests fervently agreed with him and Taehyung moved to follow him across the rather large entrance hall. Jungkook grabbed champagne off a passing server this time and he quaffed it hard and fast.

“Fucking Donghae,” Jungkook muttered as he reached up to wipe at his lips. “I swear he’s developing dementia. Every time we see each other he mentions bloody Jinwoo. Either he’s going fucking nuts or he does it on purpose. I never mention the newest escort on his arm. He should learn some fucking respect.”

Jungkook was clearly irritated though it barely showed in the following interactions. Maybe only in the way he drank three more glasses of champagne over the duration of the conversations and ignored the hors d’oeuvres going around. Taehyung also ignored the food even when there was a hollow under his ribs that told him to eat. Maybe it was better to murder on a full-stomach? He didn’t know but he did know that he would probably puke if he ate anything. Taehyung just followed him around like a puppy until it drew close to the time that he was supposed to leave. Jungkook made a scene of checking his phone in front of a small gathering of guests and when he glanced at the screen he made a soft noise under his breath.

“Shit, I must have an issue checked but I can’t leave now. Not when I’m due to speak ah, Kim?” He turned to him with a smile on his face. “Please step outside and make a few calls on my behalf. Just be sure to explain the situation, my men will understand.” He felt his fingers lightly squeezing at his elbow and he took that as the sign to leave.

“Of course, Master Jeon. I’ll return as soon as the calls are made.” Taehyung turned on his heel and hastily scanned the ground-floor area in the hopes of finding a fast way through the press of bodies. Then he cut across it, hearing a woman talking to Jungkook as he did.

“…having a handsome man like that call you ‘Master’? Must be rather exciting and…”

Then he was too far out of earshot to hear the rest, to hear whatever Jungkook had to say on the matter. He cut around couples and small gatherings of avidly chatting guests, around servers that made sure to ask him if he would like something with fake smiles. Taehyung ignored them and exited the building to step outside onto the street. He could feel a light sheen of sweat on his brow and he knew that that was a sign of his nerves. But nerves weren’t important right now. What was important was getting to that warehouse he had been told about; east of the hotel. Taehyung started walking at a rather calm pace and as soon as he was out of sight around the corner he started running. He was on a schedule and he couldn’t afford to waste too much time without pissing Jungkook off. He didn’t stop running until the sight of the building came into view; recognisable because of the few black cars parked in the lot beside it and a man on the door. Bald man with a head tattoo.

“Master Jeon sent you?” Taehyung nodded at him and the man moved to grab the shutter and pull it up. He gestured with his free hand for him to step under and into the warehouse so he did so. At his arrival he heard an indignant voice complaining.

“Great, another one. The circle jerk is complete now, huh?” The man had a husky voice, a sign of too many cigarettes or cigars. Not unpleasant to listen to however. “Fucking great. Search him.”

“Just here to talk,” Taehyung said in a reassuring tone as he let himself be patted down by the bald thug. Over his chest then down to his hips, along his stomach to both thighs and then even his ankles. The man lifted the ends of his trousers to show no hidden blades but just bare ankles. He sighted the man sitting close to the centre of the large room, on one of two chairs.

Ahn Kangho was perhaps in his mid-forties, hair a little too long like Lim but neat rather than crazy. He had light stubble on his face and was currently wearing a black suit with a white shirt. Both looked rather wrinkled, perhaps from hands grabbing at his clothes. It was hard to tell. His face didn’t look trustworthy but he also didn’t look like a bad man. Not like Nam, who had looked slimy from the start, or Jungkook who looked like the boy next door until he was smashing a man’s teeth in or tied to a chair with his cock straining against his trousers.

“You’re kidding me. I knew this was a set-up the minute it entered the building. Shouldn’t have fallen for it, taking Woo’s call as a real call. Should only have came here if Jeon himself called me but I messed up. Trusted Woo too much clearly.”

Taehyung didn’t have a clue how Kangho had ended up here at all. He just knew that there was information that he needed and the way to get it was from him. So after consenting to the pat-down and having his gun taken off him and placed on a table he moved to sit in the other chair facing the man. The wood creaked under his weight and he could feel Kangho’s gaze on his face the entire time.

“Don’t know you. You’re not Jeon’s so you’re clearly his,” Kangho said this word in disdain, sneer on his face as he did.

“Master Jeon wants info,” Taehyung said, deciding to go straight to business just like Jungkook did. “Info on some rebellion you’ve been trying to assist. Sound familiar, Ahn?” Kangho didn’t even blink at him. The man had likely seen things like this hundreds of time, had made been on the receiving end a few times too. “You should really ‘fess up, Ahn, you’re in the shit now.”

“Not gonna happen, son. Go back to your fancy dinner or wherever the fuck you came from, and whilst you’re at it try to not blow that monster under the table, huh?”

“That kinda info...I gotta say, Ahn, if you gave me that info right now I’d call him. I’d call Master Jeon right away and tell him just how fucking loyal you are, doesn’t need to end badly.” Taehyung paused for a moment and then an idea struck. “You could walk right outta here tonight. Got a wife and kids right? Two daughters? You could kiss ‘em goodnight.”

This wasn’t working. Taehyung had a schedule to stick to and fucking Kangho was refusing to comply with him. So he shifted to get out of his chair and made a show of fixing his jacket as he took a few steps to get closer to him. Then he swung his fist out without warning to punch him right in the mouth. The blow was hard, enough to knock his head back and daze him, so Taehyung grabbed hold of his throat and shifted to pin him into the chair with one of his knees.

“Rope,” Taehyung said without taking his eyes off him. He saw one of the thugs moving out of the corner of his eye and felt Kangho trying to buck free from under his weight. He just moved his knee right onto his crotch and applied weight until it was enough to have him stop wriggling like a worm. His heart was hammering in his chest and yet he kept his grip firm. “Look man, I tried to play nice but you kept jerking me around.”

Kangho just spluttered indignantly at him as the other man came over with the rope. It was as if he hadn’t even imagined this. Even Howon had shown that he had known his time was up despite having done no real wrong. He supposed being around Jeon had made him feel rather immune but Taehyung knew one thing. No one in Haedogje Pa was ever immune to death or torture. They just staved it off for awhile, maybe a few years maybe a few decades. But they were all caught out in the end when they stepped out of line.

“Hold him for me, he’s a slippery bastard,” Taehyung remarked as he shifted to get off the man’s lap. The thug with the pate tattoo held him firmly by the arms and so he wrestled to drag one wrist and pin it to the rickety armrest. Not ideal but at least there was spacing between them the seat, meaning he could tie him up just like he had done to Jungkook. No room for movement, he was going to need it because the man was most certainly going to move. By the time he was done with him he was going to be positively bucking and so Taehyung started securing him to the chair. It didn’t take him that long at all before he was looping the rope around his chest and wrenching hard to bind him to the chair.

“Fucking young pups like you and his kid are the reason Haedogje Pa’s gonna fall apart. It’s not about business anymore, or honour or respect. Jeon’s a good man but his son is a fucking monster,” Kangho spat at the floor as he secured his second wrist to the chair arm. “Sadistic faggot. When he’s not fucking other men like an animal he’s cutting them to pieces and playing with ‘em like a baby with a jigsaw puzzle!” Taehyung dropped to his knees to work on his ankles, making sure to not accidentally get the man’s saliva on his trousers as he did.

When he was finished securing him Taehyung went back over to his own chair and removed the gloves from his jacket, then the jacket itself so that he could delicately place it on the back. If he got dirt or a single crease on it Jungkook would get pissed off. He quickly got the gloves on and then he moved back to stand in front of him. That was when he decided to roll his shirt sleeves up and reveal the knife strapped to his forearm. Ahn’s gaze flickered to it and then his expression shifted to one that showed he felt rather stupid.

“Ahn, Master Jeon told me you had an ‘acidic tongue’. He should’ve told the truth, you talk shit.” Taehyung reached up to slip the wooden handle free from the leather harness. When he pressed his thumb down on the mechanism the knife swung out like a pendulum to point straight at the man. It wasn’t like Jungkook’s butterfly knife, which required a complex series of quick finger and wrist movements to slip free, but rather a simple flick knife. The blade was longer and thinner with a wickedly sharp tip and he just knew that it would serve its purpose to perfection.

“I’ll have to cut it out if you don’t stop,” Taehyung retorted as he moved and pressed it right against the man’s throat. The flat side first, just as a warning. “Names.”

“I told you, I’m not saying anything. I don’t work for Jeon’s son I work for Jeon,” Kangho retorted, as if the pressure of the blade on his throat was nothing at all. If only he knew the truth.

“Gimme a name, Ahn. I’m getting bored and there’s a party waiting for me,” Taehyung said as he twisted the blade and this time pressed the edge against his Adam’s Apple. The sharp edge actually cut his skin ever so slightly though that was not his intent. “If you don’t gimme one I’ll cut it out of you. Not just your tongue, I’ll slice you up like a fucking pig. You’re not the first man I’ll have done this to. Want me to feed you your own cock? ‘Cos I will. Ask Nam I’m sure you’ve seen the news.”

“Kim! It was Kim alright!” Kangho snapped at him, trying to sound pissed off but really just sounding scared.

“You’re gonna have to narrow that down for me man,” Taehyung retorted as he kept the knife pressed firmly in place. “I know maybe...fifty fucking Kims.”

“Kim! That’s all the guy told me!”

Taehyung studied his face and he saw that the man wasn’t lying to him. His expression was perfectly honest even through his fear and it was enough to make him feel rather strange. Kim as in Kim Jinwoo; the supposed childhood friend of Jungkook? The one mentioned at the gala? He knew that there had been conflicts, Jungkook’s behaviour earlier proved this point, but this? This seemed so much more than that. Or was it possible that he was talking about Jinwoo’s father instead, the Kim?

“Who’s the other guy? Who set you up for this, huh?” Taehyung asked in a soft voice. “Who’s the selfish bastard that fucked you over?”

“Lee Yoo…Yoo-something. Ah shit,” Kangho cursed and closed his eyes, clearly trying his very hardest to recall his name. “Lee Yoochun! Works in Seodaemun-gu!”

“…Never heard of him.”

“Works mostly for Kim, course you haven’t heard of him, you dumb bitch!”

“Oh?” Taehyung raised his eyebrows at this and pulled the blade away from his throat. “Do you think it’s a smart idea to call the guy holding a knife against your throat a bitch?”

“Anyone who works for that faggot is a dumb bitch.”

“Hmm, well this dumb bitch was given very strict instructions on how to deal with you. Where’s the box?” Taehyung glanced up and he saw one of the thugs reaching inside their jacket pocket to pull out the thin box. He opened it to show a nice crushed velvet interior. Purple. Not that big but it really didn’t need to be. “Y’know what’s gonna go in that box? Bits of you.” Taehyung could hear the words coming out his mouth but it was as if he was reading a script. As if somewhere across the district Jungkook was controlling him just like he had with Nam. It was The Boy’s words coming out of his mouth not his own. He had his hand firmly up his ass like a ventriloquist dummy and he was making him talk just like a real human would.

He was just a dumb bitch puppet after all.

“Y’know why? ‘Cos you were a dumb fuck and you didn’t cover your ass. I saw the photographs, heard the recordings, I saw all of that shit and my god, Ahn. How the fuck have you managed to live this long? I’m honestly surprised Jeon hasn’t smoked your turncoat ass by now.”

“I’m not a turncoat, I’m trying to rescue his empire before it collapses.”

“It’s not a house of cards, Ahn, it’s not gonna collapse.” Taehyung shifted his gaze to look at the thug that had helped hold him in the chair earlier and at his silent gesture the man grabbed hold of Kangho’s head. “Jeon wants Master Jeon to succeed after him. If you refuse to follow his decision, then you’re a turncoat. It’s that simple.”

“You told me if I gave you names-”

“Yeah yeah, does Jeon practice parlay, Ahn?” Taehyung interrupted. “Does he negotiate with his enemies and let ‘em free for a scrap of info?” He saw the man’s face hardening at him. “Like father, like son. How’s your honour feeling right now? After you ratted a brother out to save your own ass?” Now he didn’t feel like Jungkook’s puppet. Now he felt like Namjoon interrogating someone. It was like he was a vice officer all over again. All that was missing was the one way glass and his badge.

“You’ll regret this. Jeon, that fucking abomination of a son of his. Even you. You’ll all regret it,” Kangho said in a surprisingly even tone. “When the time comes you’ll regret it.” He moved to get close to him, trying to figure out what to go for first. What the first step of the dance would be. “That little monster will regret crawling out of his poor mother.”

Taehyung didn’t know how he managed to keep his hand steady. His entire body felt numb and yet he managed to reach up with his free hand and wrench Kangho’s eyelids open as wide as they could go. It made the man make a series of noises yet he didn’t shout or start crying like he had expected. The sight it revealed was the entirety of his eyeball, the smooth curve of it sitting snug in his eye socket. Taehyung saw his way in however, for it was right in the corner of his eye, a slight entrance. He hovered the blade over this section and lowered it.

“Keep still or this will go right through,” Taehyung muttered. “Maybe even right into your fucking brain. That might actually be a good thing…”

The flat of the knife slowly rubbed along the surface of his eye as he tried to get the perfect angle. When he did he slipped the blade between his eyeball and the curve of his orbital socket. He didn’t know if this hurt for Ahn was making no more noise than usual, no screams to alert him that it did. Just breathing unsteadily through his nose as he squeezed his mouth shut. Taehyung shifted his wrist ever so slightly and then came the pressure. He applied a hard push onto the handle and watched as the blade first unrooted, then started to force his eyeball out of the socket. That was when Kangho started making noises through his clenched jaw. When it finally came free it did so with a rather sickly popping sound and Taehyung dropped his hand to catch it. The eyeball was still attached to the optic nerve and he briefly wondered what that even meant.

Could Kangho see in that eye right now?

Taehyung knew that when he severed it the pain would come. Only then. So he took a deep breath and sliced at the thin stretch of nerve so that he had only the eye on his hand. When the blade parted the nerve Kangho’s screams were like nails on a blackboard and he tried to fight back. All that happened was that he rocked ever so slightly with the chair. Step one complete, now for step two: the second eye. Taehyung leaned over to place the severed one in the box the thug was holding for him and he moved onto the next. Having already removed the first he found the second easier and he didn’t hesitate in adding pressure. Another popping sound, another eyeball landing in his palm and leaving sticky little patches on the leather before he cut it free and placed it in the box. More wailing and frantic rocking from Kangho, some screamed words that seemed like begs for mercy.

Step three and four to come, the dance was really picking up now.

The sensation of grabbing his tongue between his thumb and fingers was a hideous one. He could feel the warmth and wetness even through the leather gloves, the pulsing of his muscles as he tried to pull it free. Taehyung tried his hardest to not focus on it as he angled his wrist and told the man to hold his head steady for him. The thug went one better, clamping his jaw tight to keep his mouth well and truly open. The sight was eerily familiar. He was aware of how much this was like to what Jungkook had done to Howon. Tied to a chair, playing dentist with a hammer and a set of pliers. Except now he was playing surgeon with a flick knife. Completely different and yet exactly the same. Jungkook had removed something, had knocked and torn parts free with ruthless pulls of his wrists. He was just plucking and sawing things free instead.

Taehyung found that the blade cut through the man’s tongue just as smoothly as it had cut through Nam’s cock. Unlike that situation however there was blood, a lot of blood. He recalled there being a major artery in the tongue and so he shifted to ensure that he wouldn’t get hit by any of the spray. It took just a few seconds of sawing until the blade sliced through to the other side and Taehyung held it up to look at it for a moment. Then that went into the box with the two other parts and he looked back at Kangho.

Taehyung thought that there were no words to describe the sheer nightmare that was his face. It was the kind of hideous that would haunt his nightmares; the hollow pits where his eyes should have been and the dangling threads of nerves. When he jerked his head they shifted and dangled like shoelaces and with every mighty attempt at a shout he tried his stump of a tongue jerked up and down and caused more blood to pump out over his chin.

He had done that.

Shit he had just done that. It was like a slap across the face and it snapped him out of whatever spell he had been under. The walls he had put up to keep it all out had been knocked down by a fucking bulldozer and Taehyung was aware of reality again. Horribly and terrifyingly aware.

“Fuck, the gun, brother, gimme the fucking gun!” Taehyung yelled, unable to control the volume of his voice. Considering what had just happened he was surprised he wasn’t screaming pure nonsense at the other man. One of the hired thugs grabbed his Cz75 and hastily moved to hand it to him. Jungkook had told him to finish it whatever way he wanted and Taehyung couldn’t think of a faster and more painless way that this.

He had never shot anyone before and yet Taehyung found himself handling it all surprisingly well. Could Kangho hear this? Right now could he understand what was going to happen? Or was he in too much agony to even process anything more than the sheer agony that he was in? Taehyung hoped that he couldn’t but he supposed that whatever the case it really didn’t matter anymore. Right now Kangho was nothing more than a target to him, one from the shooting range. He didn’t even have to worry about the distance because he was standing beside him. His headshots had been very good regardless of distance anyway. He wanted to say sorry but he knew that he couldn’t. Only Jungkook could say “sorry, just business” and not him. So he just held his tongue as he cocked the hammer back, hearing it drop with a crisp click before he pulled the trigger.

There was a deafening roar as the bullet kicked free of the chamber. There was no high pitched zip as it flew through the air however for the impact was much too close. No, the bullet shot out the gun and right into Kangho’s temple. Taehyung assume that it would lodge inside but it didn’t. It punched out the other side of his head and took most of his skull with it, a spray of blood and brains erupting to land on the floor with liquid splashes. A little blood misted back to try and hit him too. Maybe it did, Taehyung didn’t feel anything at all. He was too cold for that.

Shooting range targets didn’t explode with chunks of meat, just little clouds of paper taking to the air.

There was a mark around Kangho’s head from where the muzzle had been pressed. Black marks that looked like scorch marks. He could even see a little curling wisp of smoke taking to the air from around the bullet hole. Jungkook hadn’t lied about the lethality after all.

“…Master Jeon instructed me,” Taehyung explained as he flicked the safety back off and lowered his arm. “The…the goods are to go into separate envelopes. Each one addressed to Ahn’s family, his wife and his two daughters. He wants ‘em delivered personally to the family by tomorrow morning. Don’t damage the goods, not after what I just had to fucking go through.” He shifted to shove his gun back into his armpit holster and then roughly removed his gloves as he crossed the room to collect his jacket and leave the building. He slipped it on as he stepped outside and then moved so that he could lean back against the wall of the warehouse.

Taehyung closed his eyes as he rolled his head back and he thought about what Jungkook had taught him. To breathe, in and out, in and out. His throat felt much too tight and he was certain that he was wheezing as he breathed in through his nose and back out of his mouth. He had just mutilated and murdered a man with barely any assistance at all, nothing more than a set of hands to hold a man still for him.

Because Jungkook had asked him to.

There was something that he kept thinking of, that he couldn’t force away. It was how the bullet had punched out of the gun just like how Jungkook had described it would. Of how the moment he had pulled the trigger his fear had just…ceased to exist. All over, no more cries of pain and thoughts of Kangho. Just a smoking hole on the side of his head and silence in the warehouse building. A wonderful relief from it all.

Taehyung took a few final breaths and then he started walking down the street. No point in dwelling on what had happened now, he was currently in too much shock to do so. But later…later the bad thoughts and fear would come back to haunt him. They always did. Hopefully not in the form of vivid nightmares. In his haste to get to the warehouse earlier he hadn’t really scanned the area. So when he saw a pay phone and he stopped walking for a moment to stare at it. He had no money, no way at all of using it. But in the future wouldn’t a pay phone be a wonderful method of communication? Just as simple to use as the disposable phones. Then he carried on walking back to the hotel and tried his hardest to not reflect on what he had just done.

When he stepped back inside he saw that barely anyone looked his way. Not without Jungkook by his side. Locating the young man was rather hard but after a minute of frantic searching he saw him up on the balcony with a small group of followers, persistent hanger-ons. Taehyung ascended the stairs, once again taking several deep breaths to look calm as he walked along the stretch of balcony. Jungkook spotted him and for a second his expression looked surprised before going back to his professional smile.

“If you will excuse me, business calls,” Jungkook said as he swiftly broke away from them and moved to reach him.

“I did it,” Taehyung said as he leaned close to him. “Just like you requested, Jungkook. The business deal has been brokered.”

“…Follow me,” Jungkook said after a moment of thought. They went down the stairs and along the ground-floor in the direction of the restrooms. Taehyung followed along behind him and stepped inside the male restroom. Then he was being pulled along the tiled floor towards a large cubicle. Once inside Jungkook closed the door and slipped the lock over securely.

“Tell me,” he ordered in a low voice. “Details now.”

“Ahn gave me two names. I’m gonna look into the first one and find out who the fuck he’s talking about. The second…”

“Who’s the first?” Jungkook asked, concentrating on the important part first. Taehyung told him the name. Lee Yoochun. “Don’t know him, find out and inform me. The second?”

“Jungkook, I feel I…I should do some research first. Just to be certain that Ahn wasn't lying to me. He might have lied to cover himself. I don’t wanna report false info just in case.”

“…OK,” Jungkook said after a moment of thought. “Tell me what it was like with Ahn. I wish I could have been there but I had to stay here instead. Give shitty speeches about kids with cancer.”

“It was…” Taehyung paused and he tried to sort his thoughts out. Jungkook asked him how he had killed him. “I shot him. In the head after the removal. I didn’t think it would be like that. His head uh…it kinda exploded.” Jungkook made a noise at this, something almost like a purr. “There was a mess.”

“You know I love mess. How much of a mess? And the removal?”

Taehyung was more than certain that Jungkook was enjoying this too much. Sadistically so.

“Removing the eyes wasn’t hard. They…when I applied pressure they came free very easily.” Jungkook reached up with one hand to cup at his cheek and he murmured about how pretty his eyes were. Hopefully not pretty enough for him to want them removing from his skull. “The tongue was a little harder. Slippery.”

“Could you feel his pulse?”

“…Yeah, actually I could,” Taehyung replied, finally figuring out what that sensation had been. He didn’t need to be told to explain this, rather he just continued. “It felt like a throb, I guess? Really fast and hard and-”

“Fuck,” Jungkook cursed breathlessly as he grabbed hold of his waist and pulled him close. Their hips slammed together hard and the cry of surprise that escaped Taehyung’s lips was muted by the younger man mouth clamping over his. Jungkook kissed him roughly, much too roughly. He could taste champagne on his tongue as he forced it into his mouth, and his hands moved along to grab at his ass with that same level of roughness. He tried to kiss him back but it was hard to do so. Jungkook broke the contact to take a quick intake of breath and kissed him again, this time not as roughly. Taehyung had just managed to attune himself to his tongue, to explore his mouth with his own, when the young man broke the contact.

“Shit, this calls for a celebration.” Jungkook untangled himself and he slipped his fingers inside his suit jacket to reach into the inner pocket. After a momentary fumbling he pulled something free and Taehyung looked at the object. It was a glass vial, small and thin. There was a stopper in the top and a slight chain attached to it, and on this chain was a little glass spoon. One glance showed him exactly what it was: cocaine. He didn’t even need to see the white powder inside because he knew that it was, the vial alone was proof.

“Jungkook, I dunno if you should-”

“Too much champagne to drown out the guests,” Jungkook interrupted with a laugh. “But this is an instant pick-me-up. I’ll be practically sober after a hit. I usually have fun with Jimin with this. Cocaine is a party drug after all.” Jungkook pulled the stopper out. “I refuse to snort this off the back of my hand or a fucking toilet seat. Not when I’m used to using Jimin as a surface. Taehyung, sit on the seat, unbutton your shirt.”

Taehyung didn’t really know what he was planning but the only way to know was to follow his instructions. So he placed the toilet seat down to perch on the cover and then he reached up to fumble the top buttons of his shirt open. When he was at his ribs Jungkook told him that it was enough, that he could stop. Taehyung had just lowered his hands when the younger man’s fingers seized hold of his hair tightly and pulled back hard. He let out a surprised gasp and then realised that Jungkook was exposing his neck for a reason.

Jungkook used the spoon to gather up a small amount of the cocaine and then he was tipping the glass spoon to spill it onto his skin. Taehyung could feel the soft sensation of it dusting along his clavicle and then the spoon poking at it to neaten it into a line. Satisfied by this arrangement Jungkook reached inside his pocket to pull a slip free, something gala related. He rolled it into a tight tube and bent down over his chest. He pressed his thumb against one nostril as he held the tooter in the other and then he snorted the line up.

“Oh fuck…” he groaned as he tipped his own head back, blinking rapidly a few times and then twitching his nose. “I needed that.” Jungkook sniffed a few times and then he lowered his head to look at him. Taehyung still had his own cocked back, to expose his throat and chest to him. “Not the best location but I’ll find a better one next time.”

“What’d you mean by that, Jungkook?” Taehyung asked as he moved to lift his head back up.

“Want a hit?” Jungkook asked rather than answer his question. He shook the vial invitingly and raised one eyebrow in that languid fashion of his.

“Nuh…no thank you, Jungkook,” he said in a low mumble as he reached up to start buttoning his shirt again. The young man tossed the tooter aside without a care.

“Wait, let me clean you up.” Jungkook gathered the remains onto his fingers, rubbing them along the dip of his collarbones, and before Taehyung could even figure out what he was doing he felt the young man’s fingers forcing themselves into his mouth. He jerked his head back in surprise as the hard press of his fingertips almost dug into his gums and then Jungkook pulled his hand away.

“That should give you a taste,” Jungkook remarked with a smirk, clearly amused at his own joke. Taehyung stared at him in dumb confusion and he lifted his fingers to lick them before laughing at him. Actual laughter that he had never really heard before. Not the usual business chortle or breathless ‘haha’ for effect, but an actual series of rather sweet giggles. Taehyung wanted to be pissed off at him and yet he found it annoyingly hard to do so hearing that laughter coming from his grinning mouth. It even made even his nose wrinkle up when he did.

“Jungkook, will that…will I get high off that?”

“Mmm, for a few minutes maybe seen as you’ve never used before,” Jungkook remarked as he lowered his fingers from his lips and recapped the cocaine vial. “Not high enough though, and trust me. When you feel it, you will want to feel it again.” Taehyung fumbled his shirt buttons closed with rather unsteady fingers and Jungkook watched him do so as he took a few more sniffs.

“What does it feel like? Snorting it?” Taehyung asked to break the silence of the cubicle.

“Hard to explain, burns a little,” Jungkook explained as he shoved the vial into his jacket pocket. “But then there’s a kind of drip. A steady drip down the back of your throat and it just feels so good. ”

Taehyung thought about the sensation of Jungkook’s cum shooting right into his mouth and how some had spilled down his throat and he swallowed hard. Jungkook however was too distracted sliding the cubicle lock over to see this. He stepped out and crossed the bathroom to get to the sinks and so he got off the toilet seat to follow him.

“You feel numb but also there’s a rush. A powerful rush right in your centre. Pure power, Taehyung.” Jungkook made sure to dab water inside of his nose to wet it, to stop the skin from drying out and cracking; rotting. After doing so he adjusted his jacket in the sink mirror and then turned around to roughly straighten him out. “You would look better with some skin on show. You’re not a fucking nun, Taehyung.”

Jungkook popped two of the shirt buttons open with some consideration. Perhaps some of the cocaine was still stuck to his skin for he moved his head forward quickly and Taehyung felt the hot wetness of his tongue darting along to the dip between his collarbones. Then he moved his head back and proceeded to fix his hair, muttering that he needed it cutting because it was too long.

“Can…can we leave now?” Taehyung asked as he followed him out of the restroom and into the main hall. There were too many people and he wanted to leave so badly.

“A little longer now, Taehyung.” Jungkook’s mouth brushed against his ear and one hand shifted to settle wonderfully on his waist. “Can’t leave so suddenly, it looks rather suspicious. So we’re going to mingle some more. A few female guests complained about you disappearing like that. I think they wanted to see your face a little more.” Taehyung stayed still and silent as he looked across the reception hall. “Really burn it into their memories so they can use it tonight when their old fat husbands are sloppily fucking them.”

With that Jungkook pulled away just in time to smile and reply to an approaching guest. Perfectly composed, almost eerily so. He was an amazing actor and Taehyung just hoped that he could reach those levels too. He thought he was doing well right now, for no one in the hall had a clue what he had just done. The young man was scarily good at playing his role out, carrying a champagne glass but no longer drinking from it. Smiling and talking and holding eye-contact the entire time. It was a little hard for him to do that however.

Taehyung couldn’t feel his mouth.

It was everything, from his tongue to his gums, all the way back to his very teeth. They felt weird, floating in his skull in fact. He didn’t know whether he loved or hated this sensation because he just knew that the numbness would soon spread out and encompass his body too. Not just his head.

It was as he was trailing along behind Jungkook that he felt the first kick hit him. Luckily the slight amount meant that he felt himself starting to come back down within just several minutes. But those first minutes were the most strangest experience of his life. It was nothing even close to getting drunk, that almost light and foggy feeling. Taehyung was too aware, too sensitive to everything around him. Hypersensitive in fact. Just the slightest sound or movement was too much, a punch instead of tap, a scream instead of a laugh. It just made him too sensitive to it all and Taehyung felt himself slipping in and out of it all as he crossed the room, as hands reached out to touch him.

When Jungkook finally relented and decided it was time to leave, the performance was over, Taehyung could have cried in relief. The little rush of cocaine had faded at that point and left him feeling a little woozy. He followed him out and to the car and almost collapsed into the backseat.

“Starting tomorrow,” Jungkook said as he reached up to rub at his nose, “I’ll have to detox. Cleanse my system from all of this shit. Can’t afford to get addicted. Not to cocaine, that shit will wreck me. Should probably drop the champagne for a few days too.” He settled back in the seat. “Jimin won’t like that.”

“Master Jeon? Are we finished?”

“With work duties, yes,” Jungkook explained as he twitched his nose a few times. “You know what comes next, don’t you, Taehyung?”

Taehyung wanted to say something mundane. Food, which his hollow stomach craved. Sleep, which he probably wouldn’t do anyway. He would stare at the mirror above his bed or the wall across the room and think about Kangho’s fucked up howling face. Yet he knew exactly what Jungkook was talking about, and when he opened his mouth a familiar word came out.

“A reward.”

“Yes, Taehyung, a very special reward,” Jungkook said with a wide smirk.

Taehyung wasn’t at all surprised when he climbed into the elevator carriage and Jungkook hit the button to the penthouse suite. He had known that this was going to happen the entire drive back to the apartment. In the ride up the young man received a message about the goods being prepared for dispatch and a cancelled order. Taehyung took that to mean Kangho’s body, which he assumed was being dumped somewhere across the capital. This seemed to greatly please him for he had a smile on his face when he slipped his phone back inside his suit jacket.

“Jungkook, what exactly is my reward?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice as he stared at the carriage flooring, at his shoes. Clearly he was allowed to wear them inside now, a strange privilege.

“What do you think it is?” Jungkook reflected the question back at him smoothly. He had a very strong idea that he knew but he wasn’t going to say. He just knew that it was not a gun. The carriage doors opened and Taehyung let him step out first to go to the door. As like last time he opened it by pressing his thumb onto the keypad and then pressing several buttons. “I’ll have to allow you into the system,” Jungkook explained as he hit enter, “so you can enter freely.”

Though Taehyung wasn’t surprised by the fact he was entering the penthouse, he had to admit that he was surprised by the sight of Jimin. Jimin, lying on the dining room table close to the entrance much like a pet cat. In that black silk bathrobe he almost looked like a cat and that was when he caught sight of something else. A glint of metal around his throat.

Jimin was wearing a collar. A black collar. It was studded with gold along the front and there looked to be a tag on it though he couldn’t possibly read it.

“Have fun, darling?” Jimin asked as Jungkook removed his shoes. Taehyung decided to copy his action and he stepped out of the loafers and stayed right by the door.

“Not really, I missed the fun because I was stuck at the gala. If I had been allowed to bring you though…” Jungkook moved to get to the dining room table and he leaned over to kiss him. “I’m sure if would have been a lot more fun.”

“What about Taehyung? Tae, can I call you Tae?” He quietly confirmed that he could and Jimin smiled at his whilst Jungkook stroked at his hair. “Did you have fun?”

“I uh…I was working,” Taehyung explained.

“Well work’s over now, dear. Time for play,” Jimin remarked as he reached for a bottle of champagne. He had already removed the cork earlier and he just lifted it to pour out three flutes, the golden liquid bubbling as it spilled into the glass. “Come, don’t stand there by the door like one of his boring old men. You’re a guest.”

What Taehyung wouldn’t do for something a little stronger than champagne. Like soju. Or absinthe. Or maybe not booze at all. That would probably be smart and yet he moved to accept the glass from him.

“You’ve been working hard, right?” Jimin asked in a soft voice, own glass in front of him untouched. Taehyung didn’t want to swallow a drop until one of those two did. “Working hard to please Master Jeon?” Jungkook took a deep swallow of his champagne and his hand trailed down Jimin’s neck to his back.

“Yeah,” Taehyung replied, feeling rather stupid as he did. His conversational ability seemed to have ran dry at the sight of Jungkook lightly caressing his hand along his lower back to his thighs. “Yeah I’ve been working as hard as I can.” Jungkook slipped his fingers under the hem of his robe and he didn’t get very far before Jimin was shifting with a surprised noise to knock his hand away.

“Not yet, darling,” Jimin scolded in a rather husky voice. “Don’t be greedy, hmm?” Jungkook just grinned at him, that same grin from the bathroom earlier that made his nose wrinkle ever so slightly. “Look, Tae’s a little nervous. We have to help him relax.”

“I know a great many ways to do that,” Jungkook retorted as he lightly swirled his champagne glass.

Taehyung didn’t really know at what point he felt himself starting to get a little tipsy. Perhaps it was after five glasses of champagne, a second bottle opened up alongside the first. Jimin got him to pop the cork and laughed sweetly when some of it spilled to land on the table. Maybe he didn’t realise how much he was drinking because the other man somehow managed to make him feel a strange giddiness that seemed to make his nerves ease off. Jimin was incredibly warm and friendly, maybe a little too touchy and flirtatious, but he still made him feel oddly comfortable in the penthouse suite. Comfortable in a way that Jungkook couldn’t.

It didn’t really register with Taehyung just how convenient that all was.

“Babe, I need you to pose for me,” Jungkook remarked as he checked his jacket pocket. He had taken it off at some point and had even rolled his shirt sleeves up. He was still in his waistcoat however. When he pulled the cocaine vial free it became obvious what he meant by pose. “So we can have a little more fun.”

Jimin giggled and stretched out on the chaise lounge just across the suite in the most slowest and erotic fashion Taehyung had ever had the pleasure of witnessing. First he got onto his knees, and then onto his hands. From this position he lowered himself until his chest was brushing against the satin and his hips rocked down smoothly so that his ass was still perked upright. Bare ass on perfect display from his position a few feet away.

“How do you want me to pose?” Jimin asked in a rather seductive tone, purposely moving his hips slightly as he did. “The usual?”

“What do you think, Taehyung? Where’s the perfect spot on his body to do coke off?”

“His thighs,” Taehyung said without even thinking, the words slipping free. “You should use his…his thighs.” This made Jimin start laughing sweetly, that wonderful laugh of his echoing through the suite.

“That’s where you can snort it from, I think I’ll go with the usual.”

At his words Jimin shifted to get into position smoothly. He got onto his knees to allow Jungkook to sit on the end of the chaise lounge and then he was shifting to get on his lap. Taehyung watched him moving until he was sprawled across his legs on his stomach and then the bathrobe was being pulled up to his ribs. Jungkook poured some of the cocaine out onto the dip of his lower back and then he sorted it into three thin lines. Jimin stayed in place, arms and head dangling over the end of the furniture. Jungkook took a tooter he had made a moment ago from a rolled up won note and he bent his head to snort the lines up, pausing for a few seconds between each one. When he was done he spanked Jimin rather hard and the other man got off his lap.

“Your turn,” Jungkook said as he rolled his head back and closed his eyes. Jimin took the vial out of his hand and he shifted on the chaise lounge so that he could spread his legs open. The bathrobe shifted obscenely and Taehyung tried to not stare as he watched him lightly tapping a dab of cocaine out onto his thigh. The white clashed against his golden skin beautifully. Sea foam on sand.

“I…I dunno if I should,” Taehyung muttered as Jimin used his finger to get it into a neat line. The powder on his finger went right into Jungkook’s mouth. “I mean I should just-”

“Come on, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he reached up and tugged on the collar, forcing Jimin’s head back as he did. He made a breathy noise at this. “You want him to, don’t you, babe?”

“Yes,” Jimin said as he looked down at him. “Please, Tae, I want you…” He didn’t finish this trail of thought and it was clear why.

Taehyung thought about what had happened earlier at the hotel. That had been just the affects of having a dab of powder rubbed into his gums. What the hell would a whole line do to him?

“It’ll be fun, Tae,” Jimin said as he lightly cocked his head at him. A lock of messy hair slipped forward and Taehyung felt the most pressing urge to reach up and tuck it behind his ear. He had to stop himself from doing so. “Want to know something about coke?”

“What?”

“It’ll keep you up all night,” Jimin explained with a mischievous smile. “All of that energy surging through you. Really gets the blood pumping.” The sound of a sudden burst of warm giggles escaping his lips made Taehyung stomach do a strange little lurch up to his ribs. “We can go hard all night long right, darling?”

“The sun will be up before we finish,” Jungkook agreed from the end of the chaise lounge, one arm still placed on the top and lazily bobbing his foot because the cocaine in his system demanded he twitch and shift incessantly. His other hand was still snagged around the back of Jimin’s collar.

Taehyung didn’t even need to ask them what they meant by this because it was so very obvious. If he snorted this line of cocaine then he knew exactly what would happen. He wasn’t sure if the knowledge scared or excited him. But he did know one thing and that was how the slight dabble had made him feel earlier. Alive. Too hot. Excited. Hypersensitive. The line of powder clinging to Jimin’s skin would be that and so much more. Not just a teaser that left his heart racing but the real deal; all of those pleasurable sensations flooding his system.

What would fucking feel like?

Taehyung eyed the cocaine for a few seconds and his tongue felt too dry in his mouth. He had to move it around, along the backs of his teeth and lips to try and produce saliva again. He looked up at Jimin first, seeing that lovely smile of his, and then Jungkook. The young man’s expression was urging him on, to just give it a shot. To just try it.

“It will feel good,” Jungkook said in a rather sultry tone. Soft, voice barely above a whisper.

Taehyung dropped his head over Jimin’s inner thigh as he stuck the tooter into his nose, pressing hard with the thumb of his other hand to block his free nostril. Then he snorted the line up with a quick jerk of his head.

Chapter Text

Jungkook eyed the line on Jimin’s thigh with a great interest. The powder looked as gorgeous as always on his skin, reminiscent of what it looked like when he had splatters of cum on his stomach, his inner thighs, his lower face and neck. Taehyung had picked a wonderful place to have the cocaine spread except it wasn’t entirely clear if he was actually going to snort the line. He had just suggested it without thinking it would seem, and only now had it hit him that his earlier remark had been serious. Surely Taehyung could see that this would be fun? Hadn’t he found the sensation of the slight high at the hotel pleasurable? Was it possible that he had disliked it, all things considered? The idea that he might have hated it was shocking to Jungkook. How could anyone hate that rush of life; that raw feeling of power?

Jimin might not dabble with cocaine but that was because his poison of choice was Valium and champagne. He liked hypno-opiates, being blissfully light and numb to the point of immobility. He found it more enjoyable to lounge on one of the beds, head balanced on Wangbi’s stomach so he could bury his face in her fur and run his hands along the sheets, his bathrobe, his skin. Fingers trailing along his clavicle and down to his navel as if the slightest bump under his flesh was Braille that he could read with his fingertips; blissed out smile on his lips. Cocaine was just too excitable for him, shot him up high into the clouds when he would rather be floating through space dreamily. He had sampled a few experimental drugs in the past but had had very little interest in them and so he stuck to his usual choice.

Jungkook liked that feeling too sometimes, particularly after a horrible day. He liked being stoned and feeling Jimin’s fingers and lips playing with his skin. Massaging his shoulders, wrapping locks of hair around his fingers, running his tongue down his spine. Fucking whilst stoned was pretty fantastic. Far out, slow and deliberate and touchy. But he still preferred being high, surging with energy until he was fucking Jimin as fast as his own racing pulse, feeling every thump hard enough to almost rattle his bones and hearing Jimin’s moans echoing in his head until he felt like he was going insane.

Yet he knew nothing that Taehyung liked. He knew that he drank, but not as much as expected. He knew that he smoked, for he constantly excused himself to leave and light up on the curb outside of buildings when he had no need to. No one would tell him to leave. He could dab ash everywhere and stub his cigarettes out on the walls and no one would dare voice a complaint. Yet the other man always excused himself in a rather amusingly polite way.

So when Taehyung actually lowered his head, tooter in hand, and snorted the line of cocaine off Jimin’s thigh he was actually surprised. Surprised enough to start laughing. It even made Jimin reach over and start patting at his head, lightly ruffling at his hair as if he was a pet. Taehyung didn’t seem to mind at all for he was too shocked to do so. The other man let out a deep groan as he tossed his head back, throwing a hand up to his nose. He knocked it rather hard with the back of his knuckles and made a series of noises, no doubt as the back of his nose and throat burned. After a few seconds he lowered his hand and head to look at them.

“Fuck…” Taehyung muttered as he pinched at the bridge of his nose and then rubbed it roughly.

“Good?” Jimin asked as he cocked his head at him. There was playful smile on his lips and he looked very pleased.

“I…I dunno,” Taehyung said as he shook his head. He still had that shocked look on his face and he sniffed a few times before blinking. His eyelids flickered, those lovely lashes of his brushing along his cheekbones. “That burnt, shit, Jungkook, that really burnt.”

“Yes, but what does it feel like now?” Jungkook asked as let go of Jimin’s collar and ran his finger down his spine instead, down the stretch of black silk. Taehyung thought this over for a moment, eyes dropping to study the other man’s spread thighs. It was as if he had been asked a deep and meaningful question rather than something simple. After some thought he looked up at him.

“Feels funny,” Taehyung replied before giving him a rather sheepish grin. “I dunno, it’s just funny.”

“He’s so cute ,” Jimin said as he once again patted at his head, laughing sweetly as he did. He could see just how much Jimin had taken a liking to him, and judging from Taehyung’s face he liked him too. Jungkook hadn’t seen him smile like this before, a wide and proper smile rather than a fake one for the sake of business; or for pleasing him. It revealed his teeth fully in a rather boxy smile. Cute, made him look somewhat younger. “Honestly, darling, can we keep him?” Jimin joked, or mostly joked at least.

“Of course,” Jungkook agreed with a nod. “Taehyung is ours, right?”

“Huh?” Taehyung’s pupils had dilated to a rather large size, making his irises look almost entirely black. If he wasn’t blinking fast then he kept licking at his lips in that habit of his. A habit that had been a sign of nerves but was also seemingly a sign of excitement too.

“I said, you’re ours aren’t you?” Jungkook repeated in a firm tone. Not threatening, just ensuring that he understood him. Taehyung sniffed and made a soft noise under his breath. It seemed that the rush was starting to hit him now, pure virgin to cocaine. Jungkook was surprised that it had taken a minute, he had expected it to kick in within seconds. His skin was already getting a little flushed and very soon he would be surging with energy too. Then the other man let out a sudden laugh.

“Of course I’m yours,” Taehyung said with that same grin. “I belong to you, Jungkook. I can belong to Jimin too, if he wants me.”

“Oh, I want you,” Jimin agreed as his fingers ran down from his hair to his chin. He cupped it and then lightly tickled his throat, making Taehyung jerk and then laugh at the contact. “Who wouldn’t want you, hmm?”

“More champagne?” Jungkook asked as he got off the chaise lounge. The question wasn’t really aimed at anyone for a reply, rather just an excuse to get to his feet and cross the suite to get to the kitchen. The flutes were still there, either fully drained or with slight leftovers in them. Jungkook knocked back the remains and then lifted the second bottle to fill the flutes again.

“…feel, hmm?” Jimin asked, the first part of the question lost on him because he was talking in a low voice.

“Feel like I could…could get up and do shit.”

“Oh yes?”

“Yeah, like…I dunno I feel really hyped right now.” Taehyung shifted to get upright and Jimin tracked his movement eagerly. “I could just start dancing or running or screaming or something.”

“Don’t scream, baby,” Jimin said with a laugh. “You’ll scare Wangbi and me.” Jungkook turned his attention back to the flutes and he filled them up. The golden liquid splashed in the bottom of the thin flutes, bubbles floating to the surface.

“Oh Wangbi! Ah, Wangbi!” Taehyung announced in a rather ecstatic tone. Excited, almost puppy-like. “Where’s Wangbi?” He turned to look over the room, head turning quickly so his hair messily flew around his face. He sighted her lying on the bed across the suite and then he was toddling over. Toddling seemed the best word to describe it to Jungkook, for he walked with a little bounce in his step. Clearly the cocaine had given him a nice boost. Taehyung crawled onto the bed with a series of almost giggles, the sound contagiously sweet. He crawled right over to Wangbi and then plopped himself onto the mattress. The cat stared at him with rather uninterested eyes but allowed him to start running his hands along her back. His fingers sank into her fur and she clearly liked it for she rolled over into her back to reveal her stomach, head cocked upside down and eyelids half-mast.

“Wangbi likes you,” Jimin remarked as he got off the chaise lounge to follow after him. He shot a look over at him and Jungkook saw the smile on his face. Eager and anticipating. “She only does that for people she likes right, darling?”

“Yes,” Jungkook agreed as he put the bottle down and stayed by the counter for a moment, watching them both. Jimin climbed onto the bed beside him, as lithe and graceful as ever so that he could lie beside him, cocking an arm up to rest his head on his palm. “She must really like you, Taehyung.”

“I swear she’s a fucking leopard,” Taehyung remarked as he carried on stroking her stomach. This made Jimin laugh and Jungkook moved to stand at the bottom of the stairs. “Such a big cat. I had a dog like…like this big when I was a kid. Really big. He was just a dog though, not a wolf.”

“Babe, a word?” Jungkook gestured from across the suite, watching the two of them. Jimin shifted to look back at him and then back at Taehyung, presumably excusing himself. Then he was crossing the room and so Jungkook went up the stairs and into his office. Jimin followed him inside and he moved so that he could rest his back against the wall.

“Yes, darling?”

“What do you think?” Jungkook asked as he eyed the open doorway. He knew that Taehyung couldn’t hear them even when the bed was visible through the glass balcony railing.

“About Tae? I like him, a lot,” Jimin said, smile playing at his lips showing that he was playing with him. He knew exactly what he was asking. “He’s cute, and when he’s not nervous he’s also very funny. But that could be the drugs talking.”

“Do you think Taehyung wants to play along?” Jungkook asked him and Jimin thought this over for a moment before nodding. “How certain are you?”

“Ninety-percent,” Jimin replied without any hesitation. “Add a camera to the mix and I’ll higher it to ninety-five. A camera always makes people want to fuck more, makes them want to pretend they’re porn stars. Sad really, most of them wouldn’t have a chance in hell but let them play. Whatever makes them happy.” He grinned at this, a rather proud smile on his lips.

“So what are you thinking?” Jungkook asked, glad that they were back on track again. “How do you want him? Because I know that he wants you. I can see it on his face when he looks at you. How are you going to take him?”

“I think I know what I want,” Jimin remarked as he spared a glance at Taehyung through the doorway. The man was lying on the bed, staring at his reflection in the ceiling mirror and stroking Wangbi who was lying at his side. “I want Tae to fall apart in my hands. I don’t want to be the first, that’s for you, darling.” Jimin leaned forward to press his forehead against his, on tiptoe to do so. “I just want to play with him first. Loosen him up for you to really enjoy.”

“What toy?” Jungkook asked as he held his gaze, saw the smirk on his lips. Jimin was having fun clearly, had been planning this out for the entire duration of the drinking and conversation earlier.

“Your favourite of course, the massager.” Jimin shifted back, onto his feet rather than tiptoes. “You might want to get the camera. I’m going to make this another private collection video. Much better than the first.” Then Jimin moved to leave the office with an excited grin. Jungkook watched him almost skip down the stairs until he was out of view. He returned once more a few seconds later by the bed, and so Jungkook stepped out of his office and followed after him.

Jimin shifted on the bed to sit by his head and Taehyung just rolled his eyes up to look at him. Then he smiled and said something about Wangbi, about how he wasn’t that scared of her anymore. There was that wide smile still on his face and Taehyung seemed rather clueless to it all. So when Jimin shifted to nuzzle against his hair, lying down on the bed so he could get level with him, Taehyung laughed in surprise.

“What’re you doing that for?” he asked, turning his head to look at him. As he did their noses almost brushed together and from his position at the end of the bed Jungkook saw his eyes open a little wider in surprise before his gaze shifted up to study his lips. “Jimin?”

“A…a few people have,” Taehyung said in a quiet voice, gaze flickering from his eyes and his lips quickly. Unable to settle on one or the other. The fact Jimin was lying upside down seemed to add to his inability to focus.

“Isn’t he handsome, darling?” Jimin asked as he sat down on the end of the bed to join them.

“He’s beautiful,” Jungkook agreed and he saw Taehyung lifting his head slightly to look at him. “Beautiful and talented, smart and very very special.” At his praises the other man seemed to relax a little, not as tense. He lowered his head and seemed to recall that Jimin was lying beside him. So he turned his face to look at him. Something almost seemed to pass between them, something imperceptible. No words said, just eyes studying each other’s faces. Then Jimin was shifting forward ever so slightly to kiss him.

It wasn’t like the kisses in the hotel restroom earlier, rather soft and gentle. Jimin clearly wanted to ease him into it and so he turned his face into the kiss. From his angle Jungkook couldn't really see his face but he could see Taehyung, could see how he took charge of the kiss by opening his mouth and licking at Jimin’s lips to get him to let him deepen it. When he parted his lips Taehyung moaned softly. Jimin didn’t break the kiss as he shifted his weight onto his elbows, rather just moved Taehyung’s head with his own. The shift in position meant that he could reach down and started unbuttoning at his shirt. He was so used to undressing other men that his fingers didn’t falter once as he popped the buttons free and only when he wrenched up on the ends to reach the lower buttons did Taehyung seemed to realise and he broke the kiss.

“Uh, I dunno-”

“Oh, Tae,” Jimin said in a sweet tone. “We haven’t even started yet. It’s just your shirt.”

“I know I know, but-”

Jimin darted forward to lean over him, hands wrenching open the almost fully unbuttoned shirt so that he could nuzzle against his chest. After a second his mouth moved to his nipple and he latched on ruthlessly. Jungkook heard him sucking on his nipple and that made Taehyung utter a series of breathless noises.

“How can I do this with your shirt on?” Jimin asked, lips pressed against his breast. He licked his tongue out and slowly traced a whorl around his nipple before cruelly flicking it across the nub. Taehyung’s feet kicked out and one of them brushed against Jungkook’s thigh. “You like this, don’t you, baby?”

“Yuh-yeah but-” Taehyung couldn’t finish this because Jimin clamped his mouth back around his nipple and proceeded to suck and lick at it. When his hand moved to the other and he pinched at it between his thumb and his forefinger Taehyung almost keened. Jungkook reached up to get to the last few buttons of his shirt and he unbuttoned them and spread his shirt out fully. After a few seconds Jimin released him and moved to press little kisses along his chest. Where his mouth touched he left behind red marks from his sucking lips and biting teeth. “Juh-Jimin, stop please.”

Jimin lifted Taehyung’s head to gently place it on his thighs, hands still stroking along his chest in little circles. When his thumb rubbed over his still sensitive nipple Taehyung’s hips stuttered again and he bit down on his lip.

“Don’t be nervous, baby,” Jimin cooed in a sweet tone. “It’s a reward. A special reward for being such a good boy. Me and Jungkook, we’re going to make you feel things you’ve never felt before. We’ll make the earth stop spinning for hours, so just forget about everything else. Think about sex, ” he drew this word out and Taehyung shifted on the bed, a nervous little twitch, “and heat, and pleasure. ”

“Think about how good it feels to sin,” Jungkook added as he ran his hand up his trouser leg. “After everything you’ve done this week, is this really anything?” He didn’t have to say what he meant by this for it was obvious.

Does fucking mean a thing when you’ve killed a man?

“It’s not bad if it feels good,” Jimin added in a whisper and then he moved his head to his shoulder. He ran his lips along it until he reached the curve of his neck and then he darted his tongue out and licked up to his ear. Taehyung took a sharp intake of breath at this and Jungkook could see that he was getting aroused. His erection didn’t tent his trousers however for he was wearing underwear. Rather he saw a growing bump in the thigh of his trousers. “We’ll make you feel good, baby.”

Jimin moved so that he could pull on the shoulders of his shirt and remove it. Taehyung got the hint and lifted his back up to allow him to slip it free. He probably didn’t expect Jimin to spin it into a twisted stretch of fabric like a rope and then started knotting it around one of his wrists. When he saw what he was doing Taehyung made a surprised noise.

“It’s OK, it’s OK,” Jimin said in a soft voice. “This is just for fun. You know Master likes this, don’t you? We’re not going to hurt you, Tae, we’re going to make you feel good remember?” He paused after securing the first loop of fabric and twisted his head to look at him. “Do you want me to stop or continue? We can stop, but then you don’t get your reward. And you earned it, baby. Do you want me to stop?” Taehyung thought this over for a moment and then he slowly lifted his other arm so that he could bind his wrists together. “Good baby. Now we can make you feel good.”

“Huh…how good?” Taehyung asked in a rather shy voice. He didn’t look at either of them whilst the other secured his wrists together. Jimin did so fast and efficiently, years of expert knowledge on bondage for their films meaning that he did so safely. Not like Taehyung, who had damn near cut Jungkook’s circulation off with his rope tying skills.

“Taehyung, I told you once that you would feel like a god in my presence,” Jungkook explained as he reached over to touch the waistband of his trousers. “You will see heaven with us.”

Taehyung didn’t tell him to stop when he started unbuttoning and unzipping his trousers, pulling them down past his thighs and then free of his legs to go on the floor. They would get so terribly wrinkled but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was the sight of his cock straining against his underwear. There wasn’t even any awkward glances to be shared because he was too busy in the midst of kissing the other man. Jimin had conveniently distracted him with his lips and he could hear the sound of them kissing, the soft contact gradually getting louder as their tongues got more exploratory, as teeth found lower lips and snagged down to bite.

Jimin was so busy kissing him that he had neglected to even notice the bulge in his underwear so Jungkook dropped his own head over his crotch. That wouldn’t do, they couldn’t drag this out too long. After all this was their foreplay. He ghosted his lips along the cotton and breathed out his mouth, warm breath causing a wonderful twitch against the fabric. Taehyung moaned and broke the kiss so Jimin moved his face back to the crook of his neck to continue planting little kisses there. Jungkook pressed his lips against his erection and torturously dragged his tongue along his clothed length.

“Fuck,” Taehyung gasped and he reached up to grab at the band of his underwear. Jungkook slipped them down with a hard tug, freeing his erection from the material. His cock sprang free and then flopped onto his stomach. Jimin turned his face away from his throat to look and then he let out a breathless moan, clearly excited by the sight. As Jungkook pulled the underwear down to free him Taehyung reached down with his bound wrists and attempted to stroke at himself.

“No touching allowed.” Jimin said as he grabbed his bound wrists and held them up over his head, elbows bent. He tucked his own head in between his shoulder and neck, using it as a buffer to stop Taehyung from trying to reach down and touch himself again; hands trapped behind his head. “Master, get the toy.”

“Toy?” Taehyung asked, seemingly not at all embarrassed by his nakedness now. He did however looked surprised by the mention of a toy. Jungkook wondered what sort of images flashed through his mind, strange or scary or exciting. If he were to see some of the shit that they both possessed - for personal reasons not film reasons, then he would likely be shocked speechless.

The pole in the bedroom at the foot of the bed. The sex swing in the corner, all leather and chains and velvet. The riding crops that had been abandoned for awhile. Jungkook had found it very hard to sit down after ‘Bad’ Jimin had last lashed him with one. The collars like the one around Jimin’s neck, gags and blindfolds and the kind of shit that would likely make his mother cry looking at it all.

“What’d you mean by toy?”

“To warm you up, baby,” Jimin explained as Jungkook shifted to go over to the dresser beside the bed. “First you get to have some fun, and then me and Master can join in. OK?”

Jungkook opened the drawer below the one that contained his knife. The special drawer as Jimin liked to call it. He had even replaced the handles with cut glass knobs shaped like hearts. Cute and typical Jimin. Inside it were the more popular toys: the massager, the o-ring gag, the cock ring, and the camcorder and lube. He pulled the light blue bottle free and placed it on the mattress beside Jimin’s thigh and then he lifted the massager out. Taehyung’s eyes locked onto it and his lips went rather slack.

The prostate massager was a curved length of matte black silicone with a glossy plastic handle attached to the end, also curved for grip on which there were a series of buttons. There had been quite a few tried in the past but this model was by far the best. Best length, best sensation, best choice of speed and pulses. Jimin was quite possibly obsessed with it, Jungkook knew that he used it often in his absence. Sometimes Jungkook just liked watching him pleasure himself with it, countless videos saved on his phone to watch when he was bored in meetings and in the back of the car. Sometimes he liked to just close his eyes and listen. Jimin had a wonderful calming affect on him, much better than any cocktail of pills. So Jungkook handed the toy to Jimin and he watched how Taehyung’s eyes tracked the movement like a hawk. He placed a plug down on the mattress too, for later use, and then he collected the camera and moved to sit back on the bed. He flipped the camcorder window open and turned it on. Taehyung barely even paid attention to it, he was much too mesmerised by the vibrator to care that he was being recorded.

“First we’re going to give you a little sample,” Jimin said as he wrapped his hand around the handle tightly. “To get you used to sensation. It can be a little strange at first.” He ran the silicon head along his thigh tantalising slow, the top and then across to his inner thigh. He pressed his thumb down on one of the buttons to activate it and it came to life with a low buzzing noise. Taehyung jerked in surprise even when it was only touching his skin. “This is going to go inside of you, Tae. Right up inside of you.” The other man made another breathy noise at this, gaze burning into the massager. “And it’ll feel so right. It’ll feel perfect.”

Jimin slowly caressed his inner thigh with the vibrator and then slipped it up between his thighs. He was only teasing him with it, meaning to run it along his entrance and then move it away again but Taehyung actually moved his hips to press up against the head of the toy.

Jungkook wanted to see nothing more than Taehyung coming undone right in front of him yet he managed to agree with Jimin that that was a bad idea. Yet Taehyung was still trying to nudge himself onto the curved head of the vibrator. Pressing that tight ring of muscle against it as if he could force it inside of himself.

“First we need to get you ready. Master you can do that just right, can’t you?” Jimin reached over to pick up the bottle of lube and he looked up at him. Oh he was enjoying this too much. Jungkook could tell looking at him that he really was enjoying this, this little game of theirs. Jungkook might have had the camera in hand but he only needed one to hold it. So he held his free hand out to Jimin and the other man pumped a liberal amount of lube across his fingers. Fuck neatness, the bottle would be used up by tomorrow anyway. The mixture was cold and thin and it tried to ooze through his fingers to drop onto the bed sheets, so Jungkook quickly moved his hand down to Taehyung. He was still lying there, legs splayed open in anticipation.

“Lift your hips up, Baby,” Jungkook ordered and so Taehyung shifted, bringing his knees up higher so that he could lift himself off the bed. His stomach muscles tightened from the position. Jungkook eyed his entrance and it was like looking at fine art; that tight little pucker of pink that would open up to reveal something wonderful; hot and perfect. He could have went for one finger first but that wasn’t good enough, not by far, and instead he decided to go straight in with two.

Jungkook slid his slick fingers over his entrance in preparation and then he slipped his middle amd ring finger inside him. Taehyung made a sound at this, a strangled gasp and he felt him tightening around him instinctively. The camera picked up the wonderful sight of him clenching, the quiver of his muscles around his fingers as Jungkook went right up to the knuckles. He kept them in place for a few seconds and then slipped them mostly free. He repeated this motion several times over, sinking his fingers in deep and then scissoring them to try and open Taehyung up more. He was so tight that it seemed like he wouldn’t yet Jungkook managed to slide a third finger in.

He could only imagine what that clench would be like around his cock.

Jungkook wanted to reach down with his other hand, press it against his stomach for some nice added pressure but he couldn’t. He had the camera in hand to record it instead. Whilst he slowly fingered him open Jimin kissed at the side of his head, along his cheekbone and told him that he was doing so well, that he needed to open just a little more. Taehyung was trying but clearly it was hard for him, nerves and excitement too hard to control. A nice line of cocaine would have loosened him up right away but Jungkook knew that he was still high right now. It was evident in his flushed cheeks and still dilated pupils.

“Juh-Jimin-”

“Not Jimin,” Jimin explained in a quiet voice. “Right now I’m ‘Bitch’ just like what my collar says. And Jungkook, he’s Master.” He ran his free hand along his ribs and then added. “You’re ‘Baby’.”

“I thi- I mean I want-” Jungkook curled his fingers inside of him and Taehyung took a gasping breath. “Put the fucking thing inside of me, Bitch.” This should have sounded like a demand, a rough growl. In reality Taehyung whined it. He was rewarded with another curl of his fingers and then Jungkook slipped them free, the lube making liquid sounds as he did. Jimin moved the vibrator right into position and he saw that he had already applied more lube to it. With a soft nudge the curved head was sliding in and Taehyung groaned deeply.

When Jimin pressed his thumb down on the control it came on the lowest setting, a soft pulse of vibration that was rather pathetic. The kind that was there only for beginning with and nothing more. The sudden pulse however was enough to make Taehyung’s legs shift, muscles going taut for a few seconds before relaxing. Jimin held the toy in place for a few seconds before slipping it mostly free and then back inside him. He moved it in an almost teasingly slow speed, wanting Taehyung to get used to the shape of the toy and also the rhythm. He was never like this with him. Jimin usually waited until he was peaking during sex before roughly shoving it inside him and holding down for the full setting, regardless of the pain. Jungkook had come to expect the sudden pain because the explosive orgasm that followed made it more than worth it. Jimin was going much too slow for his liking. Seemingly also for Taehyung for the other man was stuttering that he wanted more, trying to move his hips even though it was hard to in his current position.

Jungkook reached over to snag hold of his hair tightly and drag him upright, forcing Jimin to move and support his back against his chest. The sudden change of angle meant that Taehyung was mostly sitting up and it presented him the perfect opportunity. No need to beg Jimin now, to whimper and tell him that he wanted more. He sank down the length of the vibrator with a throaty moan, eyelids fluttering as he did.

“Baby likes it deep?” Jungkook asked as watched Taehyung rutting his hips so he could grind down on the toy.

“Yuh-yeah, Master, I like it duh-deep.”

Jungkook placed his hand over Jimin’s and ghosted it over the control button. At the sight of his thumb inching towards it Taehyung let his breath out in a whine, and so he pressed and held down until it changed to the exact speed Jungkook wanted. Hard and constant pulses that caused Taehyung to actually shout out in shock. Jungkook timed several of these pulses and then he pressed the button and switched it back to a gentle wave. It dragged Taehyung back down so fast that he let out a cracked cry, thighs shuddering.

“Master, you’re so mean, ” Jimin said and yet he was smirking at him. Sadistically, just like how he felt right now. He had even slipped the vibrator out by an inch or so, meaning that Taehyung was no longer full around the length.

“Puh-please,” Taehyung’s breath hitched and he was squirming now, twisting his body as his cock twitched hard. “Muh-Master, please.”

“Not yet, Baby,” Jungkook said as he let go of the handle and placed his hand on his inner thigh. “It’s so much better to build up the pleasure. I want to see how much you really want it. Show me how much and I will let you have it.”

“I wuh-want it bad,” he gasped as he started moving his hips hard and fast. “So bad.” Taehyung was fucking himself down onto the toy, five inches of slick and smooth silicon sinking inside with every frantic buck of his hips. He had thrown his head back against Jimin’s shoulder and Jungkook could see the way his tendons stuck out under his thin skin.

“Bruise him for me, Bitch,” Jungkook demanded and so Jimin twisted his head and pressed his mouth against his throat so that he could kiss him. Could plant open kisses on his skin and then catch it between his teeth and bite down hard.

The sight of the vibrator sinking deep inside of him was obscene as it was, glossy with lube so that the black silicone glistened between his thighs. But the way that Taehyung’s entrance quivered around it, now a flushed red from the friction and the stretch around the toy, was what made Jungkook finally reach up and hold down on the control. When the highest setting kicked in again Taehyung let out those same shocked noises. Jimin was still slipping it in and out of him so Jungkook grabbed his wrist and forced him to keep it in place, curved vibrator pressed right up against his prostate.

“Fuck, oh fuck oh-” Taehyung entire body did a spasmodic dance as he was hit by his orgasm, fast and hard. Jungkook held the camera up to focus on his face at the exact moment and he saw the way his mouth opened and closed a few times before a series of moans escaped, saw how his eyelids fluttered as his eyes rolled up. But despite the camera focusing on his face Jungkook let his gaze wander all over his body to take it in. The sight of his fingers beside Jimin’s head, curling up just like his toes did, snagging the bed sheets tightly. The way the muscles in his thighs shuddered as he ejaculated, strings of cum shooting up to splash back down on his lower stomach and ribs.

Taehyung was a fucking piece of art, just like his pieces in warehouses and landfills; like the bodies dumped in Han River and on the steps of police stations.

Jimin lowered the pulse and left the toy inside for a moment, letting Taehyung ride out his orgasm to a more gentler wave. Then he pulled it free and placed it down on the mattress, grabbing the plug and slipping it inside him instead. The other man didn’t even seem to notice. That done he ducked his head free and slowly lowered Taehyung down so that he was lying on the bed, taking hold of his hands to pull them over and place them on his lap. As he worked to undo the knots around his wrists Taehyung just stayed still, breathing hard and fast with his eyes closed. Jungkook watched the rapid movement of his stomach in rhythm with his breathing and then he turned the camera off and moved to place it on the dresser. Hands now free he shifted to sit back down on the bed and then brushed Taehyung’s messy hair off his brow.

“Clean him up,” Jungkook said as the last shirt knot was slipped free. The material was wrinkled to hell and back and would require pressing to make it wearable again. Jimin dropped it over the side of the bed and then leaned over to lap the cum off his stomach. Like Wangbi would lick water from her drinking bowl. He got most of it up into his mouth and looked up at him, awaiting an instruction clearly. So Jungkook curled his fingers at him. Jimin moved to kiss him, lips slick as he pressed their mouths together. Jungkook could taste Taehyung on his tongue, a bitter tang: raw. Jimin drooled most of the cum into his mouth and then broke the kiss to swallow and resume cleaning him up. Jungkook let it settle on his tongue for a moment for swallowing, as if sampling wine. It might not taste as pleasant, not by far, but he knew which one he preferred.

Jungkook reached up to remove his waistcoat, fingers smoothly popping the buttons free. He shrugged it off and then moved onto his shirt. As he unbuttoned it he saw that Taehyung was looking at him, head propped up so that he could do so. The other man was still catching his breath, a light sheen of sweat on his brow. He watched his fingers working and then Jungkook moved onto the cuffs.

“We’re going to continue,” Jungkook explained as he undone the first and moved onto the second. “Taehyung, if you had to snort coke off any part of my body…which part would it be?”

“I haven’t seen your body yet,” Taehyung retorted rather brusquely. Jimin started giggling at this and Jungkook paused in the act of undoing his other cuff to look at him. There was a rather mischievous grin on his face. Clearly the fading remains of the cocaine and the vibrator had really loosened him up for some fun. So Jungkook finished with the cuff and he stood up to shrug his shirt off. He collected the waistcoat and shirt together and folded them to go onto the dresser. Taehyung was still watching him with a great interest and so Jungkook reached down to play with the buckle of his belt. Not pulling it through just yet but rather teasing him.

“So you haven’t got an idea, hmm?” he asked as he moved his fingers along to the end of the black leather. Taehyung’s gaze flickered down to look at this and then lifted ever so slightly. His eyes studied the section of his stomach just below his navel, the slight curling trail of hair that ran down and disappeared under the waistband of his trousers. Then he looked up at him with that same grin still present and nodded. It made his hair move and Jungkook made a mental note to get him to a barber as he pulled the length through the trouser loop. “Where?”

“Clothes off first.”

Oh now Jimin wasn’t just giggling, he was laughing heartily.

Jungkook undone his belt, feeding the leather through the buckle. It made a wonderful sound as it did, a soft scrape and a metallic clanging as he removed it and dropped it on the floor. Then he undone his trousers and let them drop as he shifted to get onto the bed. Taehyung did a quick scan of his body before sitting upright and Jimin climbed off the bed to collect the vial from across the suit. On his way back he also tugged on his bathrobe belt to loosen it, shrugging it off without a care.

“Your stomach,” Taehyung said as he tentatively reached out. Both hands touched his shoulders and it was obvious that he was trying to get him to lie back on the bed. So as Jimin joined them again Jungkook lay back, letting the other man apply gentle pressure on his shoulders. “Here, right here.” Taehyung continued as he touched his very lower stomach, lightly trailing his fingers along down past his navel to the thatch of his pubic hair. “It looks like one of the only soft parts of your body.” And to prove his point he lightly pressed his fingertips into his skin so that they dimpled.

“His cheeks are soft,” Jimin said as he uncapped the cocaine vial. “Both pairs, and his lips too.”

“Hang on, lemme do it.” Taehyung took the vial out of Jimin’s fingers and there wasn’t much left now. Probably enough for one line and maybe two lines for him. That wasn’t ideal but at least when there was none left Jungkook would be rid of the temptation. Stave it off and cleanse his system for a week or so. Jimin moved back to let him get closer and the other man balanced his weight on one arm and then held the vial over him.

Taehyung lightly tapped at it so that a small amount spilled out and landed on his lower stomach. Jimin told him that he needed more so he tapped the vial a little harder until there was a better amount. Then he spread the line along his skin rather clumsily, showing his obvious lack of experience. Taehyung didn’t waste however, for he made sure to rub the slight amount clinging to his skin into his gums and then lowered his head and pressed his thumb against his nose to snort the line. He got most of the messy line in first attempt and took a second to get the rest before lifting his head with that same deep groan from earlier.

“Oh?” Jimin made a soft noise that sounded rather amused and so Jungkook lifted his head to look up.

There was the remains of the powder still on his skin, trapped in the curling trail of hair that ran down to his cock. This made Jimin start laughing until he threw his head back for some reason and Taehyung was just looking at the remains as he blinked rapidly.

“You should shave like me,” Jimin joked with a series of giggles, clearly finding the idea rather humourous.

“Fuck off, babe, I’m not a porn star,” he retorted with a smirk.

“It’s OK, it’s OK I’ll clean it up,” Taehyung muttered as he lowered his head. He rolled his eyes up to look at him as he darted his tongue out and licked at the trail of hair. He traced the slight remains of the cocaine up to his navel and then pulled his tongue into his mouth. His lips turned down at the corners and he made a disgusted noise. “Tastes bad.”

“OK…now where would I use on Taehyung hmm?” Jungkook asked as he sat upright. “I’ve already used his collarbones, so where next?” He reached out to run his fingers along the side of his neck and shoulder, along his upper arm; eyes tracing the rest of his body. Jungkook’s thumb ran along his inner elbow and he felt the rather soft crease of skin there and paused. Then he lifted his arm up to look at it. Nice and smooth, two freckles above it. “Here.”

“My…my elbow?”

“Yes,” Jungkook said as he collected the vial out of his fingers. “This spot is perfect.” He tapped half the remains out onto the spot and didn’t really have to bother making a line because the gentle crease in his skin did it for him. Jungkook placed the vial down and held his forearm tightly, dropping his head to snort the first line. He repeated the process again, emptying the vial and tossing it across the bed with little care.

“Right, so now the foreplay is over…” Jungkook said as he sniffed and waited for the next hit of the night to kick in. “Babe, prep yourself.” Jimin shifted to collect the lube without a word against this.

“That…that was foreplay?” Taehyung asked, eyes widening to almost comic size as he looked between them both. Those eyelashes of his were just as beautiful as ever.

“Yes, Tae,” Jimin said with a smile as he pumped lube out onto his own fingers. “We haven’t had our fun yet.”

Taehyung was still too high to really think about what had just happened, which was probably a good thing. Had he not been surging with energy and so sensitive to the touch, high over the effects of alcohol, he would never have done something like that. Not because he didn’t want to, but rather because he would have been far too embarrassed to do so. As if the idea of playing with sex toys wasn’t embarrassing enough but actual sex? Taehyung couldn’t ever imagine giving into those temptations without some kind of push. But the cocaine…well the cocaine had really pushed him over the edge and right now he wanted more.

Even when he didn’t know what ‘more’ really meant and the thought was a little scary.

A quick glance over at Jimin showed that he had removed his robe a moment ago. Taehyung hadn’t even noticed because he had been distracted with Jungkook’s body and the cocaine. When he looked at the suite flooring he saw the puddle of black silk quite a few feet away. Jimin was in the act of prepping himself, and by prepping himself Taehyung discovered that Jungkook meant fingering himself.

He dragged his eyes away from the sight and looked at Jungkook but the younger man wasn’t looking. He had his head held back and he was clearly enjoying the sensation of the cocaine dripping into his system. Already Taehyung could feel his face was flushed, too hot. Reaching up to touch it he felt hot skin against his fingertips even when his head felt like it was floating much higher above his body. On the bed beside him Jimin shifted and it took great willpower for him to not look at him, even when he could hear noises coming from him. Mostly the slick sound of the lube as he slipped his fingers inside of himself.

Taehyung briefly wondered what the hell was going on and yet he couldn’t exactly figure that out. He recalled the gala not that long ago, the sound of screams and the stink of gun smoke but none of that seemed to matter to him right now. Dead men and secretive rebellions meant very little. He was much too high to really care. Wasn’t that a very funny thing? Why, it was enough to have him laughing under his breath. At the sound of him laughing Jungkook dropped his head to look at him. After a few seconds he was grinning too, grinning along as if he got the joke too even when he clearly didn’t.

“What are you laughing about now?”

“I…I killed a guy tonight and here I am,” Taehyung explained as he threw an arm out to gesture at the suite. “I’m in the most expensive apartment block in Seoul, high as fuck.” He started laughing again. “Fucking around with a porn star it’s…it’s pretty funny, Jungkook.”

“Guess so,” Jungkook said before laughing softly in agreement.

“Baby, I’m all ready for you,” Jimin said, suddenly dragging his attention over to him. The other man was lying on the bed, thighs spread and hips lifted so that he could loosen himself with his fingers. Taehyung looked down to see the sight of four of his fingers inside. He stared in rather dumb wonder and then recalled that Jimin wouldn’t have gotten very far as a porn star without a little stretch.

“Juh…what about Jungkook aren’t you-”

“Master will join in when he’s ready,” Jimin explained, and so Taehyung turned away to look back at him. “Come on, Baby, I want you inside of me so bad.”

“He’s right,” Jungkook agreed as he reached over to run a hand along his thigh, right up the inner to the top. Taehyung had felt himself stiffening right around the time he had snorted the cocaine off his stomach, and at Jungkook’s touch he was suddenly aware of how pathetically easy he was to arouse. The curses of virginity and drug-fuelled libido. “I can’t have both of you, sadly. So I need you to help me. Fuck him for me. Bitch really wants you to, he’s almost begging.”

“Please, Baby.”

Taehyung thought about that night, the night he had been recorded by Jungkook’s hidden cameras. Hadn’t it started with mental images about Jimin? Jimin lying there just for him, Jimin moaning his name so prettily? There had been no nicknames, no collars. He wondered just how far this fetish went and if he would end up being involved.

When he shifted on the bed to kneel between his open thighs Taehyung could feel Jungkook’s gaze burning into his back. He took himself in hand and guided himself forward, head of his cock rubbing along the backs of Jimin’s fingers. Taehyung got the bottle of lube in his other hand and messily applied some to his length and after a few more nudges Jimin relented and slipped his fingers free. This allowed him to slid right inside with little resistance.

“Shit…” Taehyung breathed out as he let go and watched his cock sinking into Jimin. First his head, then a slight hint of length. The other man let his breath out in a groan and after a few experimental movements of his hips Taehyung found the perfect rhythm to start with. He grabbed hold of Jimin’s thighs tightly for better purchase. At the end of each shallow thrust Jimin made little noises, not exactly whines but something close to it. He wasn’t even deep inside of him and yet that tightness around his cock seemed to beg that he go deeper, that he sink right inside. So he did so, shifting so that he could balance his weight on his wrists and slip deeper inside. Jimin lifted his legs so that he could wrap them around his waist, heels resting on his lower back.

From this new and incredibly intimate angle Taehyung could finally see the collar tag around his neck, the golden piece resting on his collarbones. Engraved into it, glinting back at his eyes, he saw that it did indeed say ‘Bitch’. When Taehyung thrust a little harder he watched the tag moving. Jimin made a hiccuping sound at this, a broken little gasp that seemed to hint that he had hit the right spot. Taehyung felt his heels digging into him and the sight of Jimin’s hair strewn messily across the mountain of pillows was unbelievable. Better than any of the films he would have made for Jungkook by far.

Taehyung didn’t know whether or not Jungkook was going to join in for he couldn’t really figure out how he was going to do so. The sensation of Jimin’s heels on his back disappeared after a moment, as if Jungkook was moving them out of the way, and when he felt his fingers slowly trailing up the backs of his thighs he thought that he might just have had an idea. When Jungkook’s finger hooked around the plug and he slipped it out slightly and then pushed it back in Taehyung was almost certain of what he was going to do. As he presumably lubed himself up the younger man continued playing with the plug, and when Taehyung felt him pulling it free he braced himself.

Jungkook didn’t bother with gentle touches or exploring fingers. He just aligned himself and slipped in as deep as the stretch of the plug allowed him to. Taehyung had felt the strange second or two of emptiness and then had came the stretch again, the feeling of being filled up to the point of almost tearing. He groaned mostly in surprise rather than pain and he saw Jimin’s lips lifting in a smirk.

“I told you Master would join in when he was ready.”

Jungkook stayed in place for a moment, inside him but not really moving at all. Then he seemed to find a rhythm to follow and so he started lightly thrusting his hips. Taehyung rocked his own forward into Jimin and as he pulled back Jungkook sank into him. The dual sensation was too much for him, left him shaking and breathless; that tightness around his cock along with the burning stretch deep inside of him. He didn’t know what he wanted more, to rock forward and sink into Jimin, to feel his pliant flesh against his hip bones, or to rock backwards and feel Jungkook hips hitting his ass. It was just all too much he found himself getting lost in the intensity of it all.

“Baby,” Jimin moaned breathlessly as he rolled his head back. “Do I feel good?” His own hips had started rolling under him, urging him on with expert precision. Or maybe to help him start stimulating him again, he wasn’t really sure. Taehyung managed to stutter something out but it wasn’t enough for him. “Tuh…tell me how good I am.”

“Shit, you’re suh-so hot,” Taehyung moaned, dirty talk not exactly his forte. Nor had murder just a month ago yet here he was. He supposed that he could yet used to doing both over time. “You feel so good, Bitch.”

Taehyung felt fingers snagging in his hair and then his head was being wrenched back. It made his back arch and he felt his cock sliding right out of Jimin to his very head. For a moment he was convinced that Jungkook was doing so to let Jimin move out from under them. The thought of losing that hot tightness from around him was enough to make him whine but then Jungkook surprised him by not doing that. Instead he used the sudden shift in position and slammed his own hips downwards against him.

Taehyung was driven forward hard, slipping right back inside of Jimin exactly as Jungkook’s cock buried itself deep. The impact of his hips hitting his ass made Taehyung cry out of a string of nonsense noises over the sound of slapping skin. His balance was lost and he ended up on his elbows instead of his wrists, weight no doubt pressing down on Jimin.

Jungkook was fucking into him in a hard and fast rhythm, now leaning over him to balance his weight on the wrist of one hand and the other tight around his hip. Taehyung stopped moving and instead let him take full control, grinding against Jimin as his hips stuttered from every single thrust. Fuck, he felt even better than the vibrator had. Every single stroke of his length inside of him rubbed against him and caused jolts of pleasure to shoot up into his stomach. Almost electric.

Jungkook’s hips did several painfully slow rolls down into him and he heard him breathing hard, felt his hot breath ghosting between his shoulder blades. He was trying to pace himself clearly but Taehyung felt like he was being tortured. That slow friction inside of him wasn’t enough. He twisted his head to look over his shoulder at him, goading him on to go hard and fast again. The direct eye-contact made Taehyung feel a deep throb in the pit of his stomach and he was pretty certain that he might have leaked inside of Jimin in his excitement. When Jungkook increased his rhythm again Taehyung moaned and felt the need to grab onto something more substantial than the bed sheets, so he snagged hold of Jimin’s wrists and pinned them to the mattress. Jungkook was once again making him grind against Jimin, deep thrusts and constant impact as his hips slammed against his thighs. Taehyung managed to lower his head enough to press his mouth against Jimin’s chest and he ran his mouth along until he found one of his nipples. Returning the favour from earlier.

Jimin orgasmed first, which was of no surprise to him. Considering the weight of both of their bodies on him Taehyung could only imagine what the pressure on his body was like, on his hips and his lower stomach, that struggle to breathe and unable to really move. Jimin couldn’t even touch himself because his wrists were pinned against to the mattress by his hands. The friction of their bodies and the sensation of his tongue and lips on his nipples must have been the driving force and Taehyung heard the hitching breaths that Jimin made as his hips slammed home once, twice, three times against him. Then he was shouting out, a cry of pleasure that cracked as he tossed his head back against the stack of pillows. Taehyung moved his head to kiss his exposed throat and he could feel his racing pulse against his lips, taste that sweet perfume. His nose brushed against the collar and he could feel waves of his own pleasure starting to take over. Starting to throb too strongly and spread outward. The urge to rock back against Jungkook was so great that he actually lifted his hips just as the younger man thrust forward. Taehyung was pretty certain that he slipped right in to his base. Or maybe thumped was a better way of describing it.

“Shit, Baby, you’re so fucking good,” Jungkook moaned, and this was what made him start to peak, to edge closer to his climax. “You like…your reward, right?”

“Yeah, Muh-Master,” Taehyung agreed, hearing how uneven his own voice was. Shit, he sounded just like a porn star himself right now.

“You can have-ah!” Jungkook’s hips collided with his much too hard and he nearly lost his rhythm in surprise. “Have this every night, Baby.” Jimin said something in breathless agreement, still splayed out underneath him and clearly not at all sensitive. “Just keep working for…for me and you can. You can fuck me, Baby I’ll-”

“Suh…shit.”

“I’ll let you fuck me.” Jungkook’s tone was barely above a whisper and it made a shiver run down his spine which was met almost instantly by a sensation deep in his loins.

Taehyung didn’t even have time to cry out because when his orgasm hit him the air was forced out of his lungs. The pressure in his stomach coursed through him like wildfire and his vision cut to white before flashes of colour exploded behind his eyes. Like fireworks, like the licks of flame that burst from the end of a submachine gun on the firing range. Taehyung shuddered and he heard a series of noises escaping his lips that he couldn’t control as he sank deep inside of Jimin. He couldn’t even ride his orgasm out because Jungkook was still thrusting into him, frantic bucking without even any attempt at a rhythm. His hips were pounding against him and every single thump was hitting his prostate, causing even more jolts of pleasure as he tightened around him.

“Fuh-fuck, Master,” Taehyung cried out, unable to stop himself. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take. It was too much. His hips were knocking against Jimin and he couldn’t even pull out because Jungkook’s weight was on him, trapping him between their two bodies. “Hurts! Ah, it hurts!”

“Good or bad?” Jungkook managed to ask between his gasps.

“Buh-both. Ah!” He could feel his thighs quivering and every thrust was now causing a rather uncomfortable sensation. Not strong enough to hurt too much but he knew that it would increase. “Master, it hurts,” Taehyung whined in a rather pathetic tone.

That was what made Jungkook orgasm with a deep groan, hips stuttering a few more times as he milked himself fully inside of him. Taehyung could feel the hotness spilling into him and when Jungkook was finished and he pulled out of him it dribbled free to run down his inner thighs. Taehyung felt a final few seconds of stretch and then a strange emptiness deep down inside of him, an emptiness he had never knew that he needed filling.

“Taehyung,” Jungkook said breathlessly. “You have no idea how much I wanted to fuck you.” The younger man’s fingers reached down to pat at his head, ruffling through the sweat-soaked lengths in an unmistakable sign of contentment. Taehyung thought that he very much had an idea, that he had known all along. Yet he also knew personally want that hungering felt like, though he tried to suppress it. Taehyung didn’t think that he could move right now but he managed to pull out of Jimin and collapse on the bed with a breathless groan. For a minute or two there was silence, punctuated only by the sound of their breathing and the light sound of the mattress springs creaking as Jungkook moved to sit on the bed properly.

“Clean him up,” Jungkook demanded, just like he had with Jimin earlier. So Taehyung shifted to hover his head over Jimin’s stomach and he ran his tongue along his skin to lick the cum free. He felt Jungkook’s hand forcing his head up to kiss the other man. The taste of Jimin lingered on his tongue for a few seconds before Jimin’s tongue was lapping inside of his mouth. When the kiss was broken he swallowed and dropped his head back into the mattress again.

“Holy shit…” he breathed out after a few seconds. Then he started laughing and he was surprised that the two other men joined in. “That was…was fucking crazy.”

“I will say,” Jungkook said as he got off the bed and crossed the suite. Taehyung lifted his head to watch him go and that was when he spotted something he had not seen earlier. Something rather surprising. There was a tattoo on Jungkook’s back. His lower back. The unmistakable lotus of the Jeon family inked into that soft flesh that dipped in before the gentlest curve of his buttocks. Taehyung could only stare at it rather dumbly because he hadn’t known that he had a tattoo. Had he picked his back, his shoulder blades as a place to snort the cocaine off then he would have seen it.

“Was that the best fuck of your life?” Jimin asked with a smile as he shifted to sit up. “Or was that the best fuck of your life?”

“It was…” Taehyung paused before finishing with a rather embarrassed laugh. “It was the only fuck of my life.”

“No!” Jimin gasped in a scandalised tone before laughing. He even clapped a hand against his chest to play with the collar, almost the perfect gossiping auntie look. “No, Tae, that couldn’t have been! How?”

“I’ve been too busy and…and scared of relationships.”

“I didn’t ask about relationships, I asked about sex,” Jimin joked before lowering his hand from the collar. “You were too scared? Oh, Tae, just walk into a gay club downtown with that face and you would have men on their knees for you.” Taehyung wanted to tell him that he didn’t have a fucking clue where any downtown gay bars were but he held his tongue. “Such a waste. You could have fucked the whole town by now.”

“When…was your first time?” Taehyung asked as he lifted his head, cocking an elbow to rest his head in his palm.

“Oh, Tae, you think I remember that?” Jimin remarked with an eye roll. “I was probably seven.” Taehyung stared at him in shock and waited for him to say that he was joking, that he was playing around for fun. But then he made a noise under his breath. “Yes, I think I was seven or eight when I was snatched off the streets. Fucked the same night too.”

“You’re…you’re kidding, right?” Jimin shook his head at this, expression not even showing a flicker of embarrassment. “Jungkook?”

“I must have been…fourteen,” Jungkook said from the kitchen counter, stopping for a second before making a noise. “Mmm, fourteen. I was taken on a meeting with my father and it happened to be in a strip club. I remember entering in the day and seeing all of the tables and counters, but no performers. But there were workers getting ready for the evening. Needless to say I lost interest in the meeting and instead found a very likeable dancer. I ended up in a private booth with three performers. I think I fucked them all, I was a little drunk at that point but I definitely remember at least two instances of sex. My father found me half-naked over the booth table with a cock up my ass and another in my mouth.”

Jimin was laughing at this story but Taehyung was once again too shocked to possibly laugh. He couldn’t even imagine it, didn’t want to imagine it.

“I think he had the dancers killed for touching me. I don’t know, I just remember seeing a very pissed off expression on his face and knowing I was in trouble.” All things considered the younger man looked rather pleased and amused with himself. As if the idea that several men had been murdered because of him was something to laugh about. “It’s not often that happens so it’s very obvious to spot when he’s pissed off.”

“Shit, you were a kid, Jungkook. No wonder he was pissed,” Taehyung muttered under his breath, perhaps a little out of line for doing so.

“He was pissed because they were men not because of the sex. Father banned me from being allowed near clubs for quite some time. But I found my ways,” he added with a rueful smirk. “Some men can sniff out pussy from a mile away, I can sniff out pretty boys. Only pretty boys.”

“Jungkook doesn’t like masculine,” Jimin remarked. “He’s so picky.”

It was as if he hadn’t realised that he was stripping their masculinity away with his words. Jimin might not have cared about that but Taehyung had never known his masculinity to be so weak. Was it obvious? Did other men look at him and find him effeminate and weak? He had been trying his hardest to appear tough too. Apparently the act had been pretty fucking useless.

“So your father, Jeon, he knows about you?” Taehyung asked as he looked between them both. “About the fact you fuck men? And Jimin?”

“About me yes, about Jimin not really,” Jungkook explained as he finished pouring the champagne out into the flutes. “At this point I think he’s not bothering with it all. I perform business well.” He gathered the flutes up rather effortlessly in his hands and crossed the suite to get back to the bed. Jimin accepted his glass but moved it to the dresser rather than take a sip. “That’s all that matters.”

Taehyung took his own flute and he studied it for a moment. He couldn’t seem to recall how much he had actually downed this evening. The cocaine had numbed him and he was still feeling the lingering traces of it in his system, staving the champagne from affecting him. Should he risk drinking more?

“That’s not the only thing I perform well at,” Jungkook remarked, flute in front of his lips and his eyebrow lifting in that same alluring manner. “Enough about business, Taehyung? What do you want to do next?”

Taehyung dragged his eyes away the champagne flute to stare at him in confusion. For a moment his mind went blank as he tried to process this. What did he mean by that exactly? But then it hit him that Jungkook was talking about this, the bed, the sex. Jungkook was asking him because it was very much going to continue. This wasn’t a one off session, some light talking and drinking before he was sent back down to his own room. The earlier joke Jimin had made about going all night…had not been a joke at all.

“Don’t be shy,” Jimin said as he carried on playing with the collar almost absentmindedly. “What do you want, Tae?”

“There’s…there’s this one thing that I…” He paused and tried to think of a way to phrase this without sounding desperate or weird. But there really was no way of doing so. “That night, the night you brought me into the suite. Jimin was…he was in the bedroom and-”

“Go on, baby,” Jimin cooed at him as he moved to get closer, lounging across the mattress as he did. “Tell us. You can have anything to want. Right, Jungkook?” The younger man made a noise in agreement.

“You were…well, I’d like-”

“ Want ,” Jungkook corrected. “There’s no such thing as liking in this suite, Taehyung, only wanting.”

“I want me and Jungkook to fuck you,” Taehyung blurted out, a little too faded and aroused to blush at this point. “Both of us together, I want to take you from behind so I can-can look at Jungkook’s face.”

The suite fell silent for a moment and he wondered if he had maybe said something wrong, something stupid. Yet after a moment Taehyung plucked up the courage to look up at Jungkook. He couldn’t get his gaze up any higher than his hips however, for he saw that Jungkook was stiffening from his words, cock giving a few soft twitches. Then the other man was moving to get on his knees.

“The pleasure’s all mine, baby,” Jimin purred at him as he reached up to grab his shoulders and pull him down onto the bed.

When a curt series of knocks sounded on the door Namjoon looked up from the envelope on his coffee table. On top of it, pulled free and clashing against the light manilla, was the black USB pen. Placed to the side of this was his laptop, switched on but currently not in use. It would be very soon. Hopefully. So Namjoon got to his feet and crossed the apartment room to slide the lock back and open it. He moved out of the way as he pulled the door inward and standing outside in the hallway was Hoseok. Of course he had shown up tonight, because he had asked him to. Not once had he even thought of the possibility of him not doing so.

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Hoseok muttered as he stepped inside the apartment. He was all bundled up, a woolen coat on and scarf wrapped around his lower face. He dropped to remove his shoes, which Namjoon saw were sneakers rather than leather shoes. It was rather strange seeing him in casual clothing, for when he shrugged the coat off he saw an oatmeal pullover and dark blue jeans rather than a pressed shirt. “I should start hibernating for the winter.”

“You should, put some weight on. It’s good for you,” Namjoon retorted as he took his coat and shifted to hang it on a hook beside the door. Hoseok started removing his scarf and so he moved to get back to the settee across the room.

“Got any booze?” Hoseok asked as he eyed the envelope on the coffee table, messily draping the scarf around the hook his coat was on. “I’ll drink anything.”

“Don’t drink,” Namjoon explained. “Gotta stay clean after the rehab incident. Alcohol is the first step on the ladder to addiction so I’m not allowed a single drop.” He paused for a moment. “Sorry.”

“Hey man, don’t apologise,” Hoseok remarked as he waved a hand at him. “I didn’t think, makes perfect sense that you wouldn’t.” Namjoon told him that there was coffee, freshly brewed too. The other man gave him a quick thumbs up before crossing the apartment room to get to the kitchen. There came the clattering sound of him messing around with mugs and the machine and a minute later he was moving back across the room. Two mugs of steaming coffee were placed down beside his laptop.

“You’re probably wondering what the hell is going on, right?”

“Well, my initial thought was ‘dinner date’,” Hoseok replied as he glanced over the room. “But sadly that’s not the case.”

“I could’ve asked the whole team to show here tonight but I didn’t want to risk it,” Namjoon explained. “I didn’t look at the files in the office, just a single one that Taehyung had marked for my attention. Named a Word file ‘0000.Important’ just to ensure it would be first on the list of files. All capitals too.”

“Sounds like Tae,” Hoseok said as he moved to sit on the settee beside him. He pulled his mug closer and then nursed it between his hands. “Still acting like a college kid, typical.”

“Exactly, I only looked at that file. Taehyung alerted me to the fact that there was…sensitive files on that USB.” At this Hoseok lowered his mug and stared at him over the rim. “The kind that shouldn’t be allowed near other departments, or superiors.”

“…What the fuck, Namjoon?”

“Not sure, but Taehyung is clearly scared that the files will be covered up. So that’s why I didn’t look at them. And that’s why I asked you to come here tonight. One person alone in the team can’t know. At least two need to and I trust you would be more…” Namjoon paused and tried to find the right word. “I trust that you wouldn’t spill information that could put the operation of Taehyung in danger.”

“No way, man,” Hoseok agreed. “I wouldn’t spill anything.” He could see how honest he was being too, for his eyes didn’t leave his face once. “I know a little something about confidentiality, you know?”

“Yes, I know,” Namjoon said with a smile. Witty. “Which why I’m giving you the choice. You don’t have to look at the files with me, you don’t have to agree to anything that you think is wrong. I’m giving you the choice.” He repeated as he picked the USB up and held it out to him. “To decide what you want to do.”

Hoseok studied the USB pen like he had never seen one before, gaze burning into the black plastic. Namjoon knew what the answer was going to be because he knew Hoseok, but the temporary waiting made him feel tense. Made him almost worry. Then the other man grabbed the pen out of his hand and turned to face the laptop.

“We’re a fucking team, Namjoon,” Hoseok muttered. “If we can’t work together then Tae’s fucked.” He pulled the protective cap off and dropped it without a care before slipping it into the laptop. After a second or two a window popped up on the screen and he scrolled the cursor along before pausing. “20GB? The fuck did Tae send us?”

“A ridiculous amount of photographs judging from the size of the files I saw earlier. HD. Some Word files and maybe an Excel document or two, I only scanned before opening the document he addressed to me.” Namjoon watched the slight movements of the cursor on the screen, twitchy. As if Hoseok’s fingers were unsteady. “What do you think, what should we check first?”

“Photos,” Hoseok replied without hesitation, clicking on a file. He was a visual person and had his own fair share of recon photographs to his name.

For a minute or so he flicked through a random array of photographs. Most were of building exteriors, massive towering apartment blocks of brick. Some were of smaller buildings that might have been clubs or bars, it was hard to tell. Hoseok didn’t flick through quickly but rather spent a moment studying each one, likely trying to figure out if he knew it. Then actual streets, of which they both mumbled the names of, gesturing at the screen to point out obvious landmarks. But then his finger clicked down and a photograph neither of them had expected flashed up. Just like a jumpscare, making the both of them dive back from the screen.

“Oh fuck- ” Hoseok dived off the settee so fast it was a miracle that he didn’t knock the coffee table over. Namjoon also thought it was lucky he hadn’t been holding the mug of coffee. His colleague raced across his apartment to get to the bathroom and hopefully he got to the toilet by the time the gagging started.

Namjoon didn’t need to run into the bathroom to vomit. He had already seen things like this and worse working undercover. That was why Taehyung had addressed it to him, because he knew that he could handle the horrors that were on the USB pen. But his blood still turned to ice in his veins at the knowledge that this was the reason Taehyung had sent them the file. Taehyung had seen this too. He hit the next arrow quickly to skip through the files, hoping to find something else that would actually help him figure out what the hell this all was.

After several hard presses of the arrow key he found a photograph of a very familiar man.

It took Namjoon great strength to go back and examine several of the other photographs but he had to do it. He was looking at hard evidence of a paedophile ring right here in the capital and he couldn’t afford to just close his eyes to it. After confirming his already sickened thoughts he flicked back to the first photograph of Mayor Jung and he waited for Hoseok to return. After the sound of the toilet flushing and the tap water running for a few seconds he stepped back into the main.

“Jesus-fucking-Christ,” Hoseok wiped at his chin, clearly wiping away the water he had swilled his mouth out with. “I think that shit will haunt me for the rest of life. I’m gonna need therapy.” Namjoon thought about how much therapy Taehyung was going to need and then pushed the thought away. Hoseok stopped beside the coffee table and glanced at the back of the laptop and him in turn. “It’s not on the screen, right?”

“No, but something else is.” The other man sat back down on the settee. “Recognise this man?”

“Yeah I recognise him, that’s Mayor Jung,” Hoseok said as he stared at the screen. “What’s the photo in the folder for?”

“Hoseok…I think that this, this folder, the files and documents and photographs. I think it’s The Boy’s private blackmail stash.” The other man turned his head to look at him and Namjoon fancied he heard his tendons creaking in the silence of the apartment room. “This is all about Mayor Jung.”

“…No, no fucking way, man,” Hoseok scoffed but his expression didn’t look remotely certain. “Not here in Yongsan-gu. No, there’s no way that…” He turned back to look at the laptop screen and didn’t continue this. Likely because it had just hit him how all the current districts were corrupt as hell and their one couldn’t be the only clean district of them all. It was immature and also very stupid.

“See those rings on his left hand?” Namjoon said as he leaned over and gestured with his forefinger. “I identified them in multiple photographs. Back of his head, lower face, all identifiable and all recent. Not old.”

“Mayor Jung you fat fuck,” Hoseok muttered as he folded his arms over his chest. “You stupid fat fuck.”

“It’s him, Hoseok, I’m sure that the other documents will have stronger evidence.”

“OK, so let’s check. Just not the photos again. Anything but the photos.”

So for the next half hour they took turns scanning and reading the written information aloud for speed. It allowed both of them to take it in at the same time. Hoseok read it all at a fast speed, snappy almost as he listed names, locations, monetary amounts. Namjoon tried to take his time to ensure that no details were skipped over. At one point it became increasingly obvious that it was all related to Mayor Jung in one way or the other. If it wasn’t sightings that matched up to correspondingly labelled photographs, it was records of transactions (which Hoseok had bitterly referred to as his ‘shopping list’ and it had caused chills to run down his spine).

“Namjoon, what the fuck are we supposed to do about this?” Hoseok asked as he shifted to sit back on the settee, neglected coffee mug in hand. The leather creaked from the movement.

“Taehyung has given us clear locations,” Namjoon explained. “Buildings, streets, fuck we have receipts right in front of us. Insider information. This kinda information could secure an arrest on Mayor Jung and several Haedogje Pa suppliers. Crackdown squads could raid the locations and-”

“Namjoon, hey, Namjoon,” Hoseok interrupted. “I know that this is fantastic, that that’s exactly what Tae wants us to do with that info but wait a sec.” Namjoon studied his face and for a few seconds the room was silent. The other man shifted to put the mug down on the table. “How can we pull that off without risking Tae’s cover?”

The question was like a punch in the gut.

Namjoon dragged his eyes away to look at the laptop screen and he realised that there really wasn’t a way that they could do this. For a moment, just a moment he had forgotten the most important thing about the operation. The operation itself. Taehyung had a thin shield as it was around him, protecting himself and his identity. If this was to come to light then there was a high chance that The Boy would figure out that he had something to do with it. It was high-level information, the kind that seemed to be for blackmail purposes. Sensitive information, in other words. The kind that only a few pairs of eyes would have ever looked at.

“I don’t think there’s a way,” Namjoon said after a moment of thought. “Right now I don’t think there’s a sound way to pull such an operation off.”

“I mean, maybe it’s not that heavily linked to Tae, you know? Maybe others know about it and there’s another member The Boy might off but-”

“No, no Taehyung got his hands on this information and it’s private. Top-secret. I doubt another pair of eyes has seen this except for him, The Boy and whoever collected the information together. For whatever purpose right now Taehyung is his right hand man,” Namjoon explained. “If it leaks then the suspect list is too low. Taehyung could be caught out as a rat within an hour. He’s been in Haedogje Pa for barely two weeks. It looks like a sting operation bust. It is a sting operation bust and The Boy will know. He’s in too much of a vulnerable position. A year would be risky. Trust me, I know. I wasn’t expecting anything of importance for months, maybe even a year. We can’t act upon in this info.”

“So…so we’re supposed to just leave it,” Hoseok said in a quiet voice, more of a statement than a question. “We leave those…those rings to operate ‘cos if we blow this up then we risk Tae’s life. We let kids suffer to save this operation.”

“…Yeah, that’s the only choice we have. The only choice that keeps Taehyung safe,” Namjoon agreed, and the apartment room fell silent once more. Then Hoseok shifted to place his elbows on his thighs so he could bury his face in his hands. Though it was muffled he heard him groaning under his breath and he stayed that way for a moment before shifting to sit upright and stare at the USB still sticking out of the laptop.

“You know, we would’ve had to have to have alerted other departments,” Hoseok said after some thought. “Cyber police, child protection officers, and more. We would’ve needed to secure a dozen fucking warrants. Never mind how would we protect Tae…we can’t protect our own asses, Namjoon. You saw what Tae said, don’t let anyone higher up see this, they’ll shut us down. And they will. So long as Mayor Jung is at the helm, none of this will come free. Imagine the public reaction, there would be mass protests outsides stations all over the city. Jung could spill his guts and other men could get caught out. Important men. Until he’s dead, and only then, would a crackdown happen.”

“Until he’s dead…”

“You think The Boy wants him dead?” Hoseok asked in a quiet voice. Namjoon muttered that he didn’t know but he wanted him dead. “Yeah, me too man. Christ. Why did Tae send us that shit? I wish that he hadn’t ‘cos at least then we wouldn’t know .”

“He wanted to let us know that he’s alive, he’s still with us and he’s doing his job. Truthfully, I never even imagined that Taehyung would get his hands on this information. I expected a great many things, just not this. I don’t even know what to expect next, he’s bowled me over with this.”

“Shit, we all thought that he could pull this off but it’s wasn’t definite. But Tae’s a fucking machine, wind him up and watch him go.”

“But where’s he going?” Namjoon asked, rather rhetorically. “What exactly is Taehyung doing right now? I’m trying to figure it all out but I’m just not sure.”

“I think he’s using The Boy,” Hoseok remarked. “Sex, just like you mentioned. I think Tae’s crawled right into his bed and he’s earned his favour. That part about swearing fealty to only him? I think that’s what he means, a part of it.”

“But does Taehyung understand how to manipulate someone like that Hoseok?” Namjoon asked in a quiet voice. “Does he understand how to not let his emotions catch him out? Taehyung is a feeling person, he always has been. I’ve been scared for awhile now that he thinks he can seduce The Boy and use him, when in fact that might be harder than he thinks…”

“You’re scared he’s not gonna be able to back out of it all, aren’t you?” Hoseok asked, tone and expression hesitant. Almost as if he himself was scared to voice it all. “You’re scared that the attention, the sex and all of that…it’s going to confuse him?”

“I am,” Namjoon agreed. “I’m scared of all of those things. Powerplay and manipulation from The Boy too, too much eagerness to please him. Maybe even something close to Stockholm Syndrome. Taehyung’s safety relies on The Boy at all costs, and he might get tangled up in it all and develop twisted ideas. Ideas that he doesn’t understand are wrong and distorted.

Chapter Text

Taehyung was usually woken up by the sound of some kind of alarm blaring. Whether it be an alarm clock beeping over and over until he slammed his hand down on it, or his phone buzzing and dancing along his side table from the vibrations as a preset alarm startled him awake. So when there came a loud and rather dull buzzing sound he found his eyes opening in surprise. For a second or two he was even going to reach up and feel for an alarm clock before he realised that he wasn’t lying in his own bed. The one in his apartment room, or even the one all the way across the city that was his actual bed. No, this was certainly another bed and he was so horribly disoriented that he couldn’t seem to figure out if he was awake or still dreaming somehow.

Taehyung found himself lying on his side and his head was mostly on a pillow. Underneath him, snug between the mattress and his neck was an arm. When he lifted his head to look he saw that it was Jungkook’s arm, noticeably paler than his or Jimin’s skin tones. The young man was as close to the middle of the bed as possible and his head was turned away from him so that he could only see the back of his hair. A rather untidy mess of black hair strewn on the pillow. His chest was rising and falling slowly and on his opposite side he could see Jimin. The other man was also lying up against Jungkook’s side, tangled up so that his arm was over his ribs and one of his legs was wrapped around his.

There was another loud buzz and that was enough to make Jungkook stir. He made a soft noise and then rolled his head back on the pillow before forcing his eyes open. He stared up at the ceiling mirror for a moment and then turned his head to look at him. Taehyung tried to hold his gaze even though his eyelids were much too heavy and they wanted to close on him. Jungkook’s expression was rather distant for a few seconds as he no doubt came to reality himself, and then he gave him something close to a tired smile.

“Guess I should answer the door…” Taehyung hadn’t even realised that he too had been wrapped around Jungkook, so when he shifted to let him sit up he had to move his legs too. No covers were over them, rather they were kicked right down to the bottom of the bed. He would have been embarrassed about his nakedness but all things considered he thought it was a bit silly to be so now.

“Mmm, wanna…sleep.” Jimin moved along the bed to get closer to him and then he was dragging him into something close to an embrace. Taehyung felt warm skin brushing against his and he had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat. God, the other man was just so warm and soft it was almost impossible to believe. The human equivalent of a pillow, his confused and foggy brain decided.

Jungkook crossed the suite and actually opened the door in his current naked state, clearly not at all fazed. He could have grabbed his trousers or any of the shirts on the floor and quickly shrugged them on but he hadn’t. Instead he just unlocked the door and pulled it back and from his distance Taehyung saw that it was none other than Woo on the other side of the door.

“Ahn Kangho was discovered dead this morning,” Woo explained in a rather crisp tone as he stepped inside the suite. Taehyung disentangled himself from Jimin to snatch the wrinkled bed covers and drag them over his body before he was seen. “His body was found mutilated in Seodaemun-gu, eyes and tongue missing. Died from a gunshot wound to the head. The parts were delivered express to his family home apparently. Unmarked vehicles. Either way, your father wants you at the funeral, Master Jeon.”

Taehyung felt rather stupid in his current woeful state of undress. This was Woo, the man that had saved his ass from Nam not that long ago. And here he was just a few feet away, as impeccably proper as always whilst he was hiding his naked body under a thin cover. Talk about professional member of Haedogje Pa. He could only wonder what he was thinking when he saw his eyes slide to study him from behind his glasses.

“There’s a funeral already?” Jungkook asked dumbly, trying to flatten his hair rather than cover up his nakedness. “It’s not even been a fucking day. Why a funeral?”

“Your father wants to keep this issue…under wraps so to speak, Master Jeon. There’s not going to be a police report on the matter, he wants this buried. Literally and figuratively.” Clearly this was Woo’s attempt at humour. “So a funeral is a wonderful way to do so.”

“Our schedules?”

“Currently on hold, as are quite a few Haedogje Pa associates. I would advise some coverage, Master Jeon,” Woo remarked. “You’re looking a little…tired this morning.”

Jungkook actually snorted laughter at this and then reached up rub at his no doubt sore nose. Taehyung’s own nose and throat felt horribly dry right now, likely the result of all of the cocaine. His tongue was heavy and somehow resembled carpet in his mouth, dry and stuck in place. Shit, now he thought about it his head also felt weird. A combination of a delayed hangover and a come down from the drugs, a dull throb like a headache right behind his eyes.

“When is the funeral, Woo?” Jungkook asked, clearly the most important question of them all.

“9am. It’s currently 8am and travelling will take you at least half an hour. So I would also advise that you get ready and leave as soon as possible. It’s not fashionable to show up to a funeral late.” Jungkook dismissed Woo and Taehyung caught him glancing at him one more time before he turned on his heel and left the suite. As soon as the door was shut the young man turned to look over at the bed.

“Babe, wake up we’ve got places to be.”

“Mmm…don’t wanna,” Jimin mumbled as he burrowed against Taehyung’s side just that little more. The covers rustled softly at his movement. To counter this Jungkook didn’t repeat himself. Rather he crossed the room to get to the bed and reached down to pull the covers off him. Then he grabbed him firmly by his upper arms and pulled him into a sitting-position even when he made a series of pathetic noises against this. “I’m tired… ”

“We’re all tired,” Jungkook retorted as he ran a hand through his tousled hair to flatten it for him. Taehyung saw that Jimin’s eyes were mostly closed, pretty lips slack because he really was half-asleep. “After what happened last night, I’m surprised anyone of us are alive. Never mind conscious,” Jungkook joked with a smirk. Taehyung silently agreed with this, muscles in his stomach and upper thighs aching. The very idea of getting out of the bed was something that he very much didn’t want to do. “But wake up, we have a funeral to attend.”

“…Fuck,” Jimin cursed as he forced his eyes open. Jungkook crossed the suite to disappear into one of the other ground-floor rooms and after a moment he heard a shower sounding, signalling that he was in a bathroom. Taehyung felt something rubbing against his shoulder and when a lock of hair brushed against his cheek he figured out that it was Jimin’s head.

“Uh, Jimin, don’t fall asleep again.”

“Not sleeping,” Jimin replied in a voice that sounded awake. For a few minutes the suite was silent save for the shower and then Taehyung felt something else touching him. This time it was Jimin reaching back with one hand to rub at his lower back. His palm was warm and soft as he traced concentric circles into his skin. “Tae, did you enjoy last night?” Taehyung really didn’t know what to say in regards to this question. After a lack of a reply Jimin laughed sweetly. “Of course you did. What a silly question.”

“Jimin, did you…did you enjoy last night?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice, almost a whisper. At his words Jimin moved his head off his shoulder so that they could look at each other. But he kept his hand on his lower back.

“Of course I did, Tae,” Jimin replied with a smile, one that made his eyes wrinkle slightly.

“No I mean, did you enjoy it or did you enjoy it? ‘Cos you’re…y’know?” Taehyung paused and wet his lips and yet Jimin was looking at him without judging. “I wanted to know if-”

“If I faked it?” Jimin asked as he cocked his head. “I’m not a woman, Tae, I can’t fake my orgasms at will. And I wasn’t using drugs either, just a little champagne. No Viagra, I don’t use that, the other actors do. It was just you.”

For some reason this made Taehyung feel strange. Maybe a little proud in fact at the thought that Jimin had actually maintained orgasms because of him. And if that was the case then it also meant that Jungkook too had experienced much pleasure last night. Why that make him feel rather proud he didn’t really know. Taehyung supposed it was because it was his first true sexual experience, not like the blowjob he had given Jungkook in his apartment room. He thought that most people would feel proud of themselves after what had happened last night. He also supposed that he should say something to Jimin in reply and yet he had very little need to do so. Instead he just stayed silent and allowed Jimin to keep trailing his fingers along his lower back until the sound of the shower cut off and Jungkook was stepping back into the room, roughly drying at his hair with the towel. Taehyung noticed for the first time that there were quite a few little mottled pink and lightly bruised marks on his body, along his chest and upper arms, the curves of his shoulders and even one or two on his thighs. The result of sucking mouths and nibbling teeth. Which ones had he left behind, he wondered?

“Babe, you should have used the other bathroom. Get ready we’re going to have to leave soon.”

“Can’t I stay here?” Jimin asked. “You know I shouldn’t really be there. People will stare and not in a good way.”

“No, you’re coming. Ready. Now.” Jungkook almost snapped his fingers at him, clearly back into dominant mode once more. Last night had been a pleasant break from it, short but pleasant. “Taehyung, get cleaned up. There are guest toiletries inside a cupboard in the bathroom, under the sink. Then get dressed. One of the day suits should suffice. Be quick, we have a schedule to stick to.”

Jimin looked quite possibly morose at the idea of going to a funeral. Taehyung wondered why exactly the idea was enough to make his expression turn so dark, and so he asked him what was to matter in a quiet voice. Just in case it was unwise to ask such things in Jungkook’s presence. Perhaps there was a reason for it, a personal reason. The other man took a moment to reply to this, full lips still pouted out in that wonderfully spoilt manner. Then Jimin shifted his gaze to look at him.

“What’s the matter is that I fucking hate funerals,” he replied, before quickly adding. “Everyone is so miserable in them.”

Taehyung could vaguely recall the ground-floor suite bathroom from last night because he would have no doubt used it at some point. He had drank a lot of champagne. It was a massive room and he saw several things inside: a toilet and sink with gilded taps, an open shower on the wall. The tub was central to the room, a long rectangle like that of a swimming pool. Big enough to easily for several bodies inside. The walls looked like marble to his eyes, a lush cream with veins of gold running through it, and the floor was dark tiles that were smooth against his bare feet. He located the cupboard Jungkook had told him about to find several things within it. He was thankful when he saw the several toothbrushes were still in packaging: unused. So he grabbed some of the toiletries and placed them on the counter before proceeding to use the shower. Only a fast one to save pissing Jungkook off, but one in which he ensured to clean himself as thoroughly as he could. Washing away scale-like patches of dried cum from his skin was a pleasant experience, made him feel much cleaner. But Taehyung noticed mottled marks on his body too, and when he was washing his hair his scalp burnt in parts. Likely from being tugged on by Jungkook. When he was finished he grabbed a towel off a gilded bar set a few feet away and crossed the bathroom.

There was a mirror built into the wall above the long counter. On the counter he could see countless products he assumed belonged to Jimin but he had no way of telling for sure. As he hastily brushed his teeth he studied his reflection in the mirror. Taehyung was still sleepy so maybe that was the reason why, but looking at his face he almost felt that he wasn’t looking at the same person. This wasn’t the young man that had woken up for work every morning to coffee and stacks of files on his office desk. This was someone…different. Both him but not him at the same time, an alter ego.

The old Kim Taehyung didn’t have hollow eyes and a crust of dried blood stuck around his nose from snorting cocaine.

Taehyung reached up to touch this and then he turned the tap on and splashed water on his lower face to try and clean it free. Then he patted his face dry roughly, wiping away any slight blobs of toothpaste from his mouth. It didn’t really matter if he was different now, did it? After all, Namjoon had told him that he was going to have to pretend. Wasn’t this all just one great game of pretend?

He stepped back into the main area of the suite to see a fully clothed Jungkook and Jimin sitting on the chaise lounge. Not too far away he sighted the wooden and silk screen on which his suits were still hanging. It was going to be fun changing into one with his still damp hair but he had no choice. So Taehyung selected the first all black day suit and hastily got dressed into it. No underwear, he had to settle for slipping into the suit trousers and nothing else. The sensation was strange and he wondered why the hell Jungkook did this before a quick thought came to mind.

Ease of access.

Now that he was dressed and he had located his loafers by the door Taehyung turned to look at the two other men. Jungkook had his hair swept off his face so that Jimin could hastily blend something into his skin, something he assumed was makeup. It was light and rather runny in consistency, but Jimin worked quickly because he no doubt had experience.

“The curse of coke binges,” Jungkook muttered as the other man’s fingers lightly danced along the bridge of his nose. “Is looking like a bloated corpse the next day and pissing your father off when he looks at you.”

“That’s why I don’t take that shit,” Jimin said as he smoothed the last of the liquid onto his cheeks and then grabbed a brush. “But Tae looks fine this morning.”

“He snorted about five lines less than me that’s why,” Jungkook argued as the fluffy brush batted around his face. Taehyung had to admit that he certainly looked less tired and drained than he had a moment ago, more colour to his skin like usual. When Jimin was finished he placed the brush down and then pinched both of his cheeks hard between his fingers and thumbs. Jungkook made a rather indignant noise at this, for it no doubt hurt for a second or two before he let go.

“There, the picture of health,” Jimin remarked sarcastically, two bright pink patches of colour left behind on his pinched cheeks. “Tae?”

“No uh, no thanks,” Taehyung mumbled as he reached up to try and flatten his messy hair. “Coffee usually makes me feel alive.”

“Babe,” Jungkook patted his thigh and so Jimin shifted to get to his feet and off his lap. “Sadly that will need to wait until after the funeral.” It was strange seeing him in all-black for once rather than having a white shirt peeking out from underneath his jacket. It was a funeral after all. Even Jimin was wearing as much black as possible though he could see the white collar and cuffs of a shirt sticking out from under his woolen coat. Black plaid with a collar of its own and even a hat on his head. “Which we sadly must leave to go to.”

Riding in the back of the Mitsubishi with Jimin in the middle seat between them was a strange experience. Mostly because Taehyung had started associating the car with business discussions, yet there were no discussions to be held currently. Rather the car was as silent as possible save for the rumbling engine and Jimin lightly humming under his breath as he played with the cuffs of his shirt almost constantly.

“Stop doing that you will ruin the cuffs,” Jungkook remarked before studying his face. Judging from what Taehyung could see Jimin looked uncomfortable. He didn’t know why but he did. “What? Are you nervous?”

“Your father’s going to be there,” Jimin said in a quiet voice. “Of course I’m fucking nervous, darling. Talk about a stupid question.”

Shit…

“My father has much more important issues to worry about than who walks into that church with me,” Jungkook retorted and yet the other man kept fidgeting without rest. “Trust me, babe.”

“You can say that, but it’s not going to change the fact that he’s going to stare and everyone will stare and-”

“Because you’re so beautiful.”

“ Jungkook, you know that’s not true. You know why they’re going to stare so don’t-”

Jungkook reached out with one hand to grab at his, to stop him from worrying at his shirt cuffs. Taehyung saw how firm his grip was, fingers seizing hold tightly. It was enough to make Jimin stop bumbling as he intertwined their fingers together. His expression also showed something close to relief as he let his breath out in a soft sigh.

“Trust me,” Jungkook repeated and it seemed like Jimin decided to do so for he stayed silent and still for the rest of the journey. When the vehicle was pulling up outside a rather large church with a gothic-look to it Taehyung opened the door, stepping outside and holding it for the two other men. He saw a massive stretch of vehicles taking up both sides of the street up all along the length of the block. Clearly the space had been reserved for Jungkook and he spotted Jeon’s Ssangyong parked right in front of them.

Taehyung had watched and had heard the dialogue in the car but hadn’t really taken it all in. He had been playing over what Jimin had said in his mind, about Jungkook’s father being present at the funeral. Jeon himself was going to be in the building that he was going to step into in just a minute and he really didn’t know what to think about that. He had been trying to sort it all out but he had failed to so and his only current thought was absolute sheer terror and nothing more than that. The leader of Haedogje Pa was going to be in that church, breathing the same air as him. Namjoon hadn’t told him about this part of the plan, hadn’t told him about the possibilities of meeting Jeon. It was enough to make his skin turn rather cold at the thought. But he had no choice because Jungkook was crossing the sidewalk to go up the set of stone steps to go inside and he had to follow. So Taehyung slammed the door shut and almost jogged after him and Jimin to enter the church.

The building was massive and filled with black-clad bodies. Taehyung saw a lofty ceiling much like the hotel and the main area of the church was divided into two halves of long benches. There were a few smaller doors on the sides of the areas that he didn’t have a clue of the purpose of and the altar was right at the front. There were fonts placed near the doors and yet both Jungkook and Jimin ignored them and instead crossed the main aisle without a word. Taehyung had to follow along after them rather stupidly until Jungkook stopped at a bench and gestured for him and Jimin to sit. So he moved to sit on the bench first, leaving enough room for the two other men. Jungkook turned around to go to another bench a few feet away and when Taehyung looked over he saw a quick flash of a woman’s face before she was embracing Jungkook. He didn’t know who she was but judging from the man right beside her she was Jungkook’s mother.

Jeon was right there on that fucking bench, in a pressed suit looking as every bit as intimidating as possible. Short hair cut short and styled to the side, face severe in an aged handsome way he supposed, Taehyung could see some resemblance between his face and Jungkook. But he looked away quickly without much study for fear of being seen staring at the man.

“He knows you’re there,” Jimin said in a quiet voice. “Doesn’t matter if you look at him or not, he knows everything.”

How fucking terrifying.

Taehyung had never been to church before in his life. He didn’t know when he was supposed to stand up but seen as Jungkook and Jimin didn’t bother he decided to stay seated too. On the end of the bench Jungkook looked bored to death, eyes burning into the crucifix of a tortured-looking Jesus on the wall and his lips pouted out softly. Jimin just studied his nails in turn or scuffed his shoes on the genuflection rest set for people to kneel on when praying. The priest seemed to drone on for hours and hours when in reality he knew that it was minutes. The heady scent of incense made his already aching head feel strange and he had to fight to stay awake in the warmth of the building. But also because he could see Jeon just to the side of the bench they were sitting on and he didn’t want the man to look at him and decide he hated him. If Jungkook had men murdered for pissing him off he thought it was highly likely that his father would have men murdered because he disliked them. As it was he was about to risk another quick glance at the man when he saw movement out the corner of his eye.

“Come, Taehyung.” Jungkook got to his feet, hand out to grab his elbow and pull him upright too. “Time to pay our respects.”

Taehyung was firmly pulled along the length of altar bench to the centre aisle, knocking against Jimin’s knees as he stepped out. The thought of approaching that coffin was enough to make his heart jump up into his throat. Enough to almost choke him. He didn’t want to pay respects to the dead man, the man he had fucking murdered. The coffin might just be closed right now but there was this horrible thought at the back of his mind, one that seemed to say that it wouldn’t stay closed for long. Hell, Taehyung was almost convinced that the moment he stood on the slight altar that the lid would go up. Might even be knocked free from the force of it being shoved from the inside. Then Kangho would sit up, like fucking Dracula himself, to point right at him. Even with his hollowed out eyes he would stare right at him and lift one arm so that he could point. His mouth would open and that bloody stump of a tongue would wriggle and yet somehow, some fucking way he would manage to say the words.

“ Murderer! ” Deep rasping voice, almost a lisp because of his severed tongue. “ That son of a bitch murdered me! ”

The thought was so strong that Taehyung could almost hear it ringing in his head. When Jungkook let go of his elbow and started walking up the aisle he was scared that his legs would give in. It was a horrible moment of lightheadedness, wobbly legs and all. But then he managed to take a few steps and follow him up the aisle to the altar step. No, unlike Taehyung’s fear the coffin lid did not fly upward to allow Kangho to try and grab at him. To point at him and try and scream through his ruined mouth that he was the one, he was the filthy murderer that had butchered him. Instead he was able to pass it on Jungkook’s heel and run his eyes over the lacquered dark wood.

“Rest in peace, Kangho,” Jungkook said in a soft voice.

“More like pieces,” Taehyung muttered under his breath.

“Yes, in pieces too. You were a good man, once. But you were also a meddling asshole. Let sleeping dogs lie was clearly not an idiom you subscribed to.” Jungkook actually reached out to run his fingers along the dark wood slowly. Then he patted it thrice. “Lesson learnt, old man.”

Taehyung eyed the coffin for a moment, the wood and Jungkook’s fingers in turn. There was very little to say to the dead man now, except maybe a hypocritical apology. “ Sorry I murdered you, brother ”, yes a very fitting thing to say. So he just held his tongue and then he was stepping off the slight altar step to follow along after the younger man. A moment later he felt Jungkook’s hand moving to settle on his waist. Maybe in the guise of steering him back to the right bench, but Taehyung could see so many pairs of eyes staring at them in the aisles as they passed. There was no need to guide him for Jimin was still sitting there looking so very bored and miserable with his hands folded on his knee. Taehyung shifted to sit back down on the bench and Jimin moved along to his seat so that he didn’t have to climb over his legs again. The wood creaked slightly as they sat down and Taehyung became painfully aware of how quiet the church actually was. Beside the occasional sobbing and whispered attempts at comfort, clothing rustling and shoe soles lightly squeaking on the wooden flooring as people got up to pay respects, the building was eerily quiet.

He hated it.

“Closed casket treatment,” Jungkook whispered down his ear, breath warmth and ticklish. “What a shame, I would have loved to have seen his face.”

Taehyung still could when he closed his eyes, a flash of that horror film monster face every single time he blinked. Maybe Jungkook would like to see that, and maybe he would take his wish back with regret once laying eyes on Kangho’s mutilated head. But he doubted that he would. He knew that Jungkook really would love it.

“Why didn’t you pay respects?” Taehyung asked as he leaned close to Jimin, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. Jimin turned his head ever so slightly to look at him and his lips lifted in a rather sweet fashion.

“Oh, Tae, a whore in a church. Don’t you find that funny? I’m surprised I didn’t burst into flames the second I stepped inside the building. All of that sinning and all.”

“Babe,” Jungkook said suddenly, voice not even a hushed whisper. “I’m cold, sit on my lap.” Jimin didn’t excuse himself but rather gave him a look as got up and hastily squeezed around his legs to get to Jungkook. Taehyung felt Jungkook’s knee brushing against his so moved along the bench slightly to allow him to open his legs wider. Jimin didn’t even blink as he moved to sit on his left thigh, back to the aisle and the other half of the procession. The position allowed Jungkook to put his hand on his thigh and stroke his fingers along the material of his trousers.

The way the priest stared at them from the pulpit whilst he continued with his sermon was enough to have Taehyung gnawing down on his lip. If looks could kill there would be three more coffins on the altar just for them. He almost thought that he should sit on Jungkook’s other thigh too, just to make the glares feel worth it. But he didn’t. Taehyung just kept his head down and stared at his clasped hands until the funeral was over and they could respectfully leave. No going over to other people to talk, no approaching his father, just getting up and leaving the church.

Climbing into the back of the car Taehyung sank down into the leather with a relieved noise. His shoulders and jaw were nearly aching from clenching them so tightly, and his head was still hurting. As soon as they got back to the apartment block he could eat and maybe take a nap before doing whatever Jungkook requested of him. Likely just check over and update files now that Ahn was no longer present to figure out what that would do to his district. Woo had said that they had no schedule today because of the funeral. So he just settled into the seat beside Jimin and tried to not think whilst the car to transported them across the capital.

“Yang, can you see that car in the rear-view mirror?” Jungkook asked, bringing him out his near doze with his words. “The silver one?”

“Yes, Master Jeon, I’ve seen it for quite some time now.”

“Ah yes, we’re being tailed just like I thought,” Jungkook announced before shifting in his seat. “Pull over.” The chauffeur said something in agreement before the car was smoothly twisting to pull up at the side of the street. A rather nice-looking street, the view outside that of a café in which quite a decent amount of people were visible. A glance at the rear-view mirror showed him that a car he also just slowly pulled up against the curb at the end of the street. The sight of it was enough to make Taehyung feel a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. He knew that car, the silver Daewoo. He knew it and when the door popped open and someone climbed out he realised why.

Hoseok had just climbed out of the car and he was moving to enter the café just beside them. Not once did he look over at their vehicle as he did, rather he looked calm and collected as he stepped inside. Taehyung tracked his movements like a hawk, trying his very hardest to not look too shocked by his sudden appearance. Had Hoseok tailed them because he was keeping an eye on The Boy like always? Was this all just some fucked up coincidence, or had Hoseok tailed them because he was in the car? To see what the hell he was doing to report back to Namjoon?

“That man had been tailing us all the way from the church. I’ve been watching the rear-view mirror. He might let a street get between us but he’s still been following us the entire time. Fifteen solid minutes now, I’ve timed it since I noticed it. I think he might be a police officer.” Jungkook looked away from the window to look out the front window and then he started laughing softly under his breath.

“I thought…I thought that Woo said that your father didn’t want police getting involved?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice, a squeak of a voice in fact. He was straining so hard to get to his words out that he wondered if Jungkook had any idea what he was going through right now. His tightly knotted stomach and erratic heartbeat.

“He didn’t, but that man isn’t acting upon the Ahn case. He’s tailing us for another reason.” When Jungkook paused and look over at him Taehyung almost felt his heart stop in his chest, never mind beat erratically. “Someone’s clearly paid him to get them information on the side. Could be one of a few men, but it doesn’t matter who hired him. What matters is making an example of him.”

“You…you want me to shoot him?” Taehyung asked him in a breathless wheeze. The gun in the armpit holster seemed like an anchor, dragging him down with the weight of the Cz75. He twisted back to look out of the window to see Hoseok stepping back out of the café with a coffee to sit at one of the outside tables. It was clearly to make him look inconspicuous, for he most certainly couldn’t be tailing them if he had just settled down at the café. He would have stayed in his car instead to follow them as soon as they started driving again.

“No, I don’t want you to shoot him. There’s a knife hidden under the seat. Get it out, I want you to use that instead,” Jungkook explained curtly, as if this order was absolutely nothing.

“Master Jeon, you just said that he was police,” Taehyung said as he twisted to look out the back window. “Should I really kill a-a-a police officer in broad fucking daylight?”

“Not kill, just injure him,” Jungkook corrected. In the middle seat between them both Jimin had yet to say a word. He was just still and silent, and so very hard to read. Had he ever witnessed violence at the behest of Jungkook’s hands, or was he too sheltered from all of that to physically see it? “To let whoever he’s working for know that you don’t tail me for information.”

Taehyung studied him for a moment before realising that he had no choice in the matter. This was a direct order from Jungkook and he couldn’t say no. He had murdered Ahn last night and had been of assistance in the deaths and mutilations of two other men. If he started refusing to do this then his cover might just be compromised. Sure, the excuse that it was in public and it was a suspected police officer sounded like good things to voice concerns about, but Taehyung knew that he couldn’t do that. Jungkook shifted to stick his hand under the seat they were sitting on, no doubt finding a hidden compartment under the plush leather. Then he was pulling out another standard flick knife to offer him. Just like the one that he had used on Kangho.

“Three or so stabs to the stomach should be enough,” he said as he held the weapon out to him, hand hovering just in front of Jimin. Taehyung reached over to accept with a shaking hand and it went inside his trouser pocket. Then he asked if any of them had a cigarette that he could use. It turned out that the chauffeur did though he clearly didn’t smoke inside because the leather seating didn’t have the ghost of tobacco trapped in it. So he got one out of the packet and accepted a lighter from him and he quickly climbed out of the car, using the smoke break as a valid excuse to get out.

Taehyung lit the cigarette, cupping his hand around the end as he did so before shoving the lighter in his left pocket. Just so he had a clear way to grab the knife from his right. He took a drag on the end and breathed it out his nose in a hard sigh as he looked over at Hoseok sitting at the table a few feet away. Did his teammate have any idea what he was going to do? Did he know that he was going to have to stab him to prove a point? He knew that the answer was no, and he also knew something else. After this, this brutal attack, he was never going to be able to look the other man in the eyes. All of the horrors that he had committed so far meant nothing to the team, but this was one horror too far.

This was personal.

This was like stabbing his own brother.

Taehyung knew that this little fake smoking act wasn’t going to work for long. That was made him stroll up to the bin in the act of tossing the butt. Except he didn’t. He went right over to the café table that Hoseok was sitting at and he brought one leg up quick so that he could kick out hard and knock the table over. The piece of furniture was knocked flying, colliding with another and causing two females sitting at it to almost fall out of their chairs. Taehyung grabbed Hoseok and pulled him out of his chair by one arm, reaching into his pocket to grab the knife with the other. As he flicked it open with his thumb he seized the other man’s shoulder to get a firm grip and Hoseok didn’t even attempt to fight free because he was clearly too shocked to even notice the weapon in his hand. The other man couldn’t even manage to ask him what the fuck was going on before he thrust forward with the knife right below his ribs.

Taehyung wished that he didn’t see the way that Hoseok’s eyes opened wide from the impact of the blade sinking into his stomach. He wished that he didn’t look into his eyes and see complete confusion in their dark depths. But he had to look because he needed him to see that it was him , Taehyung. His teammate. This was all part of the plan, wasn’t it? This was the perfect way to keep his ass safe in Haedogje Pa…right?

More than anything else, Taehyung wished that he could open his mouth and tell him that he was so fucking sorry but he couldn’t do that.

Men might just scream when castrated, when their teeth were removed and eyes plucked right out of their skulls…but they didn’t scream when they were stabbed in the gut. In fact Hoseok didn’t do much more than let his breath out in a rather shocked grunt as Taehyung pulled the knife free and proceeded to plunge it into him two more times. It was quick and fast, all over in the space of just a few seconds. Then he shoved his shoulder hard to knock him backwards. Unsurprisingly Hoseok tripped over the chair and landed on his ass with a jarring thud to the sound of the women and the customers inside the café screaming in horror. Taehyung turned on his heel and he saw that Jimin had already opened the door for him, so he climbed back inside and slammed the door shut. It sounded like a gunshot and instantly muffled the screams from outside.

He twisted to look out of the window at the café front. One of the women had a phone pressed to her head and she was frantically talking down the line, presumably to an ambulance operator. The other was on the floor beside Hoseok trying to help, pressing her hands down over his to attempt to staunch the flow of blood. The blood that could see was soaking into the front of Hoseok’s work shirt. Then the car was smoothly pulling away from the curb and into the road and the view disappeared from his sight. Taehyung looked over at the two other men with wide eyes, shaking with the knife still gripped tightly in his hand.

“Hmm, would you look at that?” Jungkook remarked as he stared as the flick knife blade. “Pig blood is red, just like human blood.”

Jimin slowly moved to take hold of his wrist, the one holding the knife. With his other hand he reached inside his coat pocket and he pulled a white silken handkerchief out. Then he proceeded to pull the weapon free and wipe the blade and handle clean before handing it to Jungkook. Once that was done he focused on cleaning the blood from his hand for him.

Taehyung had just stabbed his own teammate. Hoseok had taught him how to work a firearm, had participated in a three month-long workout routine to help him get in shape and toughen up. The man that was now lying bleeding out on the street outside a café was a man he had seen almost every day of the week for near two years now. Had shared stupid stories and coffee and even food with, had helped co-ordinate armed police raids with, had…

He had to bite down on his lip to stop a whine from escaping. Jimin was still carefully wiping blood off his fingers with that same tenderness. The silken handkerchief was so soft but also tacky with gore. He realised that every other time he had helped kill or injure a man he had worn gloves, had had a thick layer of leather between himself and the blood. But not today. Today he had gotten Hoseok’s blood all over his hand and he knew that the scent would linger on his skin all day long.

It had been so long since Namjoon had been in a hospital that he felt very strange. The doors opened up to show him a white entrance area, gleaming counters and glass, and he had to take a moment to look over it. He supposed that he was rather numb right now, numb with shock and confusion. He saw a few people sitting around the perimeters of the area on benches and a dozen or so nurses moving around the area. He sighted the reception desk and decided that he should go over and find out what the hell was going on. As he stopped at the counter the nurse looked up at him.

“Hello?”

“Hello, I’m here to check on a patient. Jung, Jung Hoseok,” he explained as he pulled the wallet free and quickly flashed it at the nurse. She glanced at it and then back at his face. “He was admitted this morning, was stabbed in the streets.”

“Yes, hang on.” The woman turned to a machine beside her and she hastily hit a few buttons and started typing. Namjoon put his wallet away and spared another glance across the entrance area. The nurse told him that Hoseok was allowed visitors and then proceeded to give him the wing that he was on. Namjoon noted that it wasn’t ICU and that was a very good sign. Of course he wouldn’t be in ICU, it was just a stabbing. He knew a little about that too. “If you follow the signs you should have no trouble Inspector, but if you require directions just ask a nurse.”

“OK, thank you.”

Namjoon went around the counter in the direction of the right wing. There was a sign on the wall telling him to turn all electronic devices off and so he stopped to pull both phones free: his personal phone and his tapped phone. He hoped that Taehyung wouldn’t try and contact him whilst he was in the hospital or the call wouldn’t come through. Namjoon shoved both phones into his trouser pockets and then he carried on walking along the wing. After some navigating he managed to locate the room that the nurse had told him. He paused for a few seconds outside of the room to try and collect himself and then he stepped inside.

Hoseok was lying in the hospital bed, propped up ever so slightly on a stack of pillows. He was awake rather than unconscious, staring up at the ceiling with a hard to read expression. The light blue sheets were pulled up to his ribs and Namjoon could see several tubes in the back of his arm and inner elbow, hooked up to a machine and an IV drip. It was a private room so at least he could talk to him without worry.

“Hey,” Namjoon said as he stayed close to the door. “Hey, brother, how are you?”

“What a stupid fucking question, Namjoon,” Hoseok muttered without looking over at him. His voice sounded weary and a look at his face showed so too. The other man looked quite frankly exhausted. “I feel like shit.” Namjoon moved to get closer to the bed, doing so slowly as he looked at his colleague.

“Damn, Hoseok, what the hell happened?”

“What happened was he fucking stabbed me!” Hoseok shouted at him, as if that wasn’t rather obvious, actually sitting upright in bed as he did. “Three fucking times in the stomach and I-”

“Whoa whoa, don’t-” Namjoon reached out to push him back down against the stack of pillows, “don’t move right now, brother, you’ll just make it all worse.”

“Can’t really get much worse than this, man,” Hoseok muttered, jaw clenched from the pain of his sudden movement. Namjoon could see a light sheen of sweat on his brow. “Four years…four years working this desk and not once have I been shot in a raid, shot by Haedogje Pa, injured in any way. And then Tae…Tae comes along and he fucking-” Hoseok’s voice cracked at this and he reached up with one shaking arm to place his hand on his brow. There was a wetness to his eyes that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “He fucking stabbed me, Namjoon.”

“I know, I know he did. That’s why I wanted to know what happened,” Namjoon said in a quiet voice.

“I was following him from the funeral,” Hoseok explained in a quiet voice. “Ahn Kangho, his funeral was this morning and I was watching the procession from a distance. When I saw The Boy leaving I noticed that Tae was with him, Tae and another man I didn’t recognise. So I followed their car, I shouldn’t have but I just felt like I had to. We both know that The Boy had Ahn murdered. I didn’t expect to see him at the funeral but he showed up.” He paused for a few seconds. “Makes sense, the murderer always shows up at the scene of the crime and sometimes the funerals too.”

“They knew you were following them?” Namjoon asked him. Hoseok nodded and said that he had been careless, that he had slipped up.

“I stopped and entered a café and was planning on letting them go. I had no need to follow after them. That was when Tae stepped out the car and jumped me.”

“You know why he did it?”

“Yeah, ‘cos The Boy told him to do it,” Hoseok said in a low voice. Namjoon asked him how certain he was that Ahn had been murdered by The Boy. “Certain enough, severe mutilation before death from what I heard. I know you know more, even with the case being so hush hush. Ahn was murdered. Now I doubt that only one person would want him dead but that level of brutality…doesn’t it remind you of Nam?” Namjoon didn’t say a thing at this because he knew that his colleague knew that it was the truth. “I was canvassing the church like always, like I canvas all buildings. Hoping to see the regulars, keep tabs fresh. I didn’t expect to see The Boy or Tae. I’ll admit it man, I fucked up. Got careless.”

“No, you didn’t know, brother,” Namjoon disagreed as he reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. Have him an attempt at a comforting squeeze. “It wasn’t careless, you didn’t have a clue. None of us did.”

“Shit, Namjoon, I just keep thinking…if he’ll go far enough to stab me then what else’s Tae gonna do? What else has he already done ?”

“I don’t know,” Namjoon said with a rather useless shrug, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. “I don’t know what Taehyung’s doing right now. He’s out of my hands. The minute he entered Haedogje Pa he was out of my hands. But I do know this. I know that when I infiltrated I had to do some shit, some crazy shit that didn’t seem to make any sense at the time. But it all worked out in the end. What Taehyung’s doing right now, it’s his own plan. So we just need to stay away and let him follow through with it. Play with fire-”

“And you’ll get burnt, yeah,” Hoseok nodded with a wry smile. “Yeah I can relate that sentiment.”

“What’s the diagnosis?”

“Uh…shallow wounds. Got some stitches, transfusion for blood loss. Think I’ll be discharged in a couple of days. I’ll be out of action for a week or two but I can still do desk work and interviews. Stab wounds aren’t gonna slow me down, man.” Hoseok shook his head. “I gotta stay on top of this.”

“Yes you do, but you can do that just fine whilst resting,” Namjoon agreed. The other man made a soft noise at this and then the hospital room fell silent for moment. Silent save for the beeping of machinery and squeaking wheels on the linoleum flooring of the corridors. “Look, Hoseok, I’m sorry.” At his words Hoseok looked up from his lap to hold his gaze. His expression looked both confused and surprised. “If anyone should have gotten hurt it was me.”

“No, that’s not right. You shouldn’t-

“I shouldn’t have dragged you all into this too I-”

“Hey hey, whoa,” Hoseok interrupted, holding a hand up to effectively silence him. “We’re a team yeah? All of us. We all agreed to take part in this. When someone gets hurt-”

“It’s the leader’s responsibility.”

“Namjoon, this isn’t a college presentation this is real life, real danger, real shit. I knew that when I agreed, hell I knew that when I signed onto this fucking desk yeah?” Hoseok settled back against the pillows and he let his breath out in a heavy sigh. “This was a warning sign. Like you said about playing with fire. We’ve learnt our lesson, no more playing around with Haedogje Pa. Let’s leave that to the professionals like Tae.”

“…Alright.”

“You know why Ahn’s death isn’t a pending investigation?” Hoseok asked, switching the topic smoothly. “I tried looking into it but I just hit red tape.”

“Jeon buried it, just like everything else he wants hidden away. Didn’t happen in Yongsan-gu, we’ve got no rights to go snooping around,” Namjoon explained. Hoseok asked him why Jeon would do that something like that. “If you bury it away it means you can deal with the matter yourself, outside the law if you know what I mean?”

“But we’re certain The Boy did this, right?”

“Of course he did.”

“So…so what the hell’s he gonna do? He’s not gonna punish his own son for this. You think he’ll just let it slide?”

“Not sure, Jeon’s not a petty man but he lost an important man. He might just decide that he needs to take action. So let’s just hope that Taehyung had nothing to do with it. Or that The Boy likes him enough to shield his ass.”

“Shit man, a simple murder then it I guess…well, it wouldn’t be OK, you know? The idea of Tae murdering a man seems fucking impossible to me but if it was a clean kill I could…could understand it but what happened to Ahn. What I heard, he was tortured. You really think that Tae could torture another man like that?”

“When your life depends on something Hoseok, you would be surprised at the kind of shit you would do. Not even because there’s a gun pointed at the back of your head. Oftentimes it’s invisible. The Sword of Damocles, hanging right over your head just waiting to drop. I think that Taehyung could do those things.”

“For the sake of his cover?”

“To stay on The Boy’s good side as well as maintain his cover. You saw his note, he swore fealty to him.”

“Namjoon…” Hoseok paused for a moment as if thinking his words over. “Have you thought it over a little more, about the chances of Tae being dependent on The Boy? Of maybe mistakenly thinking he’s in love with him?” Namjoon quietly told him that he was trying to not think about it. “I’ve thought about it. At first I thought it was pretty fucking stupid. Tae’s a professional he’s not some stupid drama character but the more I think about it…the more I start to worry.”

“Worry?”

“The Boy’s got power, money, influence, looks. Probably got charm falling out of his ass too. It’s not hard to think that Tae might find some attraction in that, even if just superficial. Do you think The Boy’s interest in Tae really could be sexual?”

“I think there are sexual undertones underpinning the entire relationship they have right now. The Boy is known for his sexual proclivity.”

“Yeah pretty sure we all know he likes ass, Namjoon, but that’s not what I meant. Just ‘cos he likes it doesn’t mean he likes Tae’s.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m scared that any possible sexual attraction might evolve into something else, that mutually exclusive fucking might turn into mutually exclusive partnerships and next thing you know we’ve got a man inside Haedogje Pa with too much power for our liking and no way of controlling him. I don’t wanna think that Tae would fuck us over like that but you said it yourself Namjoon: he swore fealty to him.”

“…I don’t think Taehyung will do that,” Namjoon replied after a moment of contemplation. “I know him, I picked him myself.” Hoseok held his eyes steady and he could see that he didn’t look wholly convinced.

Taehyung had been staring at his own reflection in the ceiling mirror for what felt like an eternity. He didn’t know why exactly because it wasn’t like it was something interesting to watch. He wasn’t moving, wasn’t doing much more than blinking and breathing and yet he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off his reflection. He guessed that right now he was feeling one of two things: overwhelming shock or abject guilt. Probably a combination of them both. After all, shock was only one side of the coin. He had to feel the guilt too though that was a strange sensation. The first few times he had helped Jungkook mutilate and murder he hadn’t felt guilt or not exactly. Just fear. Fear of inflicting pain and fear of being punished for it. But not guilt. Now however, because of Hoseok he was feeling guilty as sin and it was not a feeling he liked.

Where was Hoseok right now? In a hospital room, hooked up to various machines with countless little stitches in his stomach? Was he conscious and in pain, or unconscious from surgery? He knew that he wouldn’t have died from his wounds. Too shallow, much too shallow. But he would need a blood transfusion and stitches, that much was certain. And lots of drugs of course. Hoseok would get to feel blissful numbness just like what cocaine made him feel, minus the rush of energy. Wherever Hoseok was he wasn’t supposed to be there. He should have been at his department desk just like always and yet…

The door opened without much warning and he turned his head on the pillow to see that it was Jungkook entering. Of course it was, after all hadn’t he said that he could come and go at will seen as he owned the building? So he just watched the younger man walking across the apartment room until he was sitting down on the edge of the bed just beside his knees. Taehyung didn’t say a word and instead just studied him silently. There were many reasons why he might have entered the room but until he opened his mouth and starting speaking Taehyung had no way of telling why.

After a few seconds of silence Jungkook shifted slowly to lie on the bed beside him, doing so in a way almost as if he didn’t want to startle him. The way that Taehyung currently felt a bomb going off wouldn’t have startled him. After a few seconds the younger man was lying on the bed beside him, on his side so that he could look at him. Jungkook reached out with one hand to place it on the side of his face and then he turned his head to look at him. As he did he leaned closer to him, so close in fact that their foreheads were touching and Taehyung could feel his breath on his skin and his mouth almost on his.

“You’ve been such a good boy,” Jungkook said in a soft whisper, lips brushing against his. “There isn’t a man in Haedogje Pa more loyal than you, Taehyung.” Taehyung lifted his gaze from his mouth to hold his gaze and he wondered if Jungkook was telling him the truth or if he was just praising him for the sake of it. Praising him so that he could wrap him that much tighter around his little finger. Yet it didn’t really matter to him right now. What mattered was that Jungkook’s fingers were trailing along his jaw, feather soft, and his words creating a dual sensation inside of him. His chest and stomach seemed to have bloomed with warmth at the mere mention of him being good.

“Thank you, Jungkook-”

“No, thank you,” Jungkook spoke over him, fingers still trailing along his jaw. He didn’t look away from his face once, holding his eyes with that same unparalleled confidence. “Look at how many messes you’ve cleaned up for me already. I’ve had Woo following me around for months and you know what? One mess cleaned up a week if I’m lucky. So much paperwork and talking and useless shit but with you by my side…” His thumb shifted up along to his cheek and softly stroked his skin. “Three dead men, four examples. I’m cleaning this fucking cesspool out to make it pure again, and you’re my right hand man, Taehyung.”

“I’m just…just doing my job, Jungkook.”

“If I had found you sooner…” The younger man paused for a moment. “Oh, just imagine what we would have achieved by now. So many useless fuckers gone, so many more loyal ones to replace them. No loss in profits.” Jungkook’s lips lifted up at the corners and he felt the movement against his own mouth. “Out with the old, in with the new, mmm?”

When Jungkook purred Taehyung felt the most pressing urge to kiss him. He didn’t know if he should attempt such a thing without Jungkook’s express permission but he couldn’t shake the feeling. Wasn’t that why Jungkook had moved so close to him in the first place? Wasn’t it because he was going to kiss him? Or was he just teasing him?

“Imagine our achievements,” Jungkook repeated as he cupped his cheek with his palm. “But imagine your rewards too, Taehyung. Imagine what you could have experienced.” Taehyung had to drop his eyes to look at his lips again because he couldn’t hold his gaze. It was too strong, withering almost. “What you did for me today, Taehyung, that was good. You didn’t ask questions, you just did what I asked. Sure I have goons to do that work for me but it’s not the same. I want a man that can do that and more; just like me.”

“What’d you mean, Jungkook?”

“I want a man that knows Haedogje Pa business better than anyone else. I want a man that can also take care of business for me when I need him to, that can assist me. Woo doesn’t do that. Woo doesn’t get blood on his hands but you do. More importantly I want a man that will do exactly what I say because he’s loyal.” Jungkook shifted so that their faces were that much closer, touching. Every breath that Taehyung exhaled he seemed to inhale. “That’s you, Taehyung. I want you .”

Jungkook’s lips pressed against his with a tenderness that was rather surprising. Considering everything, what had happened the previous night he hadn’t expected this: gentle touches and kisses. Yet after a few seconds Jungkook was deepening the kiss, turning his head into it so that he could open his lips with his tongue and explore his mouth. Taehyung reached up to touch the back of the younger man’s hand with his fingers, following the bumps of his knuckles down to his wrist.

“I don’t just fuck anyone, Taehyung,” Jungkook said as he stopped kissing him for a moment, breath against his lips. “Only men worthy of attention can touch me like that and you’re one of those men. I would let you inside me, Taehyung-”

“Juh-Jungkook, I-”

“You would fuck me so good, Taehyung, I know that you would,” Jungkook breathed the words out, uneven and almost a soft moan before kissing him again. This was more rougher than the first kiss, almost hungry in a way. His hand trailed around to his hair and Taehyung felt his fingers tangling in it, just as his tongue seemed to tangle around his. The space on the mattress between them seemed to shrink as Jungkook moved closer to him, bodies pressed together. When he broke the kiss to catch his breath he planted kisses along his cheek to his neck.

“Do you want me, Taehyung?” he asked, lips on his throat, chin brushing against his shirt collar.

“I…I do, Jungkook I do but-” his words were cut off once again by Jungkook’s mouth pressing against his. It took Taehyung great resistance to stop him and break the kiss, moving his face away and knocking his palm free from his cheek. “I still have work to do.” He rolled his head back to look at the ceiling mirror rather than at him. Jungkook propped his weight up onto one elbow, head on his palm and he looked at him in a mixture of curiosity and frustration. Then he asked him if he had been looking over the files and the database. “I have, I looked into a few people.”

“And?”

“Ahn’s death is a massive blow to Haedogje Pa right now but he needed to go,” Taehyung said with a soft shrug, shoulder brushing against the younger man’s chest. “Your father will have to scrabble to replace him but I’m sure that he has a man. The question here is…will the man he pick be loyal to you? Will he be loyal and safe or will he be just another Ahn, a man plotting to overthrow his wishes as soon as his back is turned?”

“The name that you gave me?” Jungkook asked as he slowly wrapped a lock of his own hair around his index finger. “Is that man in anyway linked to Ahn? Can he in anyway be a replacement?”

“I’m not sure, I need to do more research. I…I want to go and see him.” Taehyung paused, searching his brain for a few seconds to remember the right name. “Seokjin, the man from the casino in Songpa-gu.”

“Why do you want to see him?” Jungkook asked him, brow furrowing ever so slightly as he looked down at him.

“To follow up on info that Ahn have me, about the names,” he clarified. “I want him to tell me what he can on the two names I was given so I can get a head start. I need more info than what our databases have, Jungkook.”

For a moment Jungkook didn’t say a word, just continued studying him. Taehyung went from looking at them in the mirror to glancing back at the younger man. He wondered if maybe he was wrong to ask to see Seokjin, if perhaps that wasn’t allowed. But then Jungkook shifted to sit up and fixed his shirt. Then he told him to inform the man on the entrance desk and a private car would escort him there. He would also contact Seokjin and arrange a meeting for him. Taehyung watched him climb off the bed to cross the room and as he got to the door Jungkook spared a glance back over his shoulder at him. He saw the smirk as he pulled the door open and left the apartment room. The door clicked loudly and Taehyung stared at it for a moment. Then he guessed that he should really get his ass in gear. So he grabbed his suit jacket and slipped into his shoes, empty holster still strapped up around his rib and shoulder.

Taehyung rode down to the ground-floor in the elevator and went over to the desk. Dongjun was there like always and after some back and forth he was informed that a car had left the apartment pool and was outside for him. So he left the building and saw a black car pulled up at the curb, which he climbed into. He gave directions to the man inside, pulling the street name out from memory and then he sank down into the seat and closed his eyes. He was so tired, drained and sore from last night and also because of the incident with Hoseok earlier. He felt like he really needed to nap but he was a little too scared to do so. Yet the journey to Songpa-gu took some time and he ended up drifting off in the backseat. When he next opened his eyes he glanced out the window to see that they were almost at their destination. The sky outside was starting to darken, late afternoon soon turning into evening hours. It took a few more minutes until the driver stopped the car outside the grey block building.

Taehyung got out and slammed the door shut, hastily fixing his suit jacket as he crossed the curb to push the revolving door and enter the casino. The woman on the desk was the same as the other day.

“Kim? On behalf of Master Jeon?” He confirmed that it was the case and she went to duck under the counter. So he rapidly told her that he knew where to go. “Oh, OK then please step inside.” Taehyung went around the counter and through the door to get into the back, pushing the curtain aside. Just like he expected the room was still packed full of workers. Casinos didn’t sleep of course, especially not online casinos. He walked the length of the room to get to Seokjin’s office door and stopped in front of it. Taehyung decided to be courteous and he knocked on it rather than just let himself in.

“ Yes, enter. ”

Taehyung pushed the door open and stepped inside the room. Seokjin was sitting at his desk, clearly in the midst of crunching numbers. There were two computer monitors switched on to his side and he was hitting buttons on a large calculator and scrawling sums in a book. When he closed the door the man looked up at him, eyes curious behind his glasses.

“Oh yes, you’re Kim. I should have expected you,” Seokjin said as he put the pen down and reached up to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “Please have a seat Kim…?”

“Taehyung,” he replied as he moved to sit in the same chair Jungkook had used for their last visit. “I know you as Seokjin.”

“Kim Seokjin,” Seokjin said with a smile. “Another Kim to add onto the list of hundreds you likely know.”

“Funny, what’s even funnier is that I’m here looking for information on another Kim.”

“Kim, wait what Kim?” Seokjin asked with a laugh, no doubt about to ask him the exact same question that he had asked Kangho. What Kim, I know about about a hundred? So before he possibly could ask that question Taehyung sat forward in the chair and folded his hands on his desk.

“Kim Jinwoo.”

At this the office room fell silent and for several seconds Seokjin just stared at him from behind his massive glasses. Stared at him in something that might have been sheer confusion, or something else. Something like shock. Then Seokjin closed his file over and reached up slowly to collect his glasses. He pulled them free but didn’t put them on the desk, rather just tapped the thin metal arm against his lips.

“Why are you asking about Master Kim, Taehyung?”

“You heard about Ahn? Ahn Kangho?” At his questions the other man’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Not entirely a confirmation but as close as he was going to get. “Before I removed his eyes and tongue and shot him in the head he gave me two names: Lee Yoochun and just Kim.” Taehyung paused to let this sink in before continuing. “I know neither, and I pride myself on knowing men, Seokjin, that’s my talent.”

“Along with murder it would seem…” Seokjin muttered around his glasses arm. Taehyung managed to not outwardly wince at this but he did feel a slight inward twinge.

“Lee Yoochun is a great tip, a full name. I can narrow him down no problem but Kim. Kim can mean absolutely any-fucking-one. I find Lee and I might just be able to find him too but I like knowing what I’m up against, if possible.” Taehyung glanced at the file before looking back up at his face. “I know one, maybe two Kims that have problems with Master Jeon. Kim Jinwoo and Kim himself.”

“Why do you think that they have problems with him?” Seokjin asked in a quiet voice, full of curiosity.

“Ahn said something about people being pissed off about the idea of Master Jeon taking over Haedogje Pa. A great many men could be pissed off but rebellions have to start from somewhere. Last time I checked, neither son saw eye to eye. Why?”

“Kim Jinwoo is disdainful towards Master Jeon’s choice of bed warmer, and by that I don’t mean a porn star. I mean a man,” Seokjin explained. “He’s a Methodist, kind of funny I know. A man of Haedogje Pa being religious but it’s true. Master Kim sees Master Jeon akin to that of the devil I suppose. Drinking, doing drugs, cavorting with other men.” He paused and seemed to think this over for a moment. “They are mortal enemies quite frankly, which is why Jeon has pretty much forced Master Kim out of the picture.”

“Doesn’t that seem like something to be pissed off about? Kim Jinwoo losing his share of it all? Or his father, Kim himself seeing his heir denied a powerful position ‘cos of Master Jeon?”

“Master Kim has a powerful position already, Taehyung,” Seokjin retorted in a crisp tone. “And we’re not the kind of men that should be meddling in powerful men’s affairs.”

“Who are you loyal to? Haedogje Pa or Master Jeon?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice.

“Who are you loyal to Taehyung?” Seokjin reflected the question back at him, clearly doing so to draw attention away from himself. Taehyung could only hold his gaze and refuse to look away. Loyalty was something that he didn’t really want to think about right now, not after what had happened today.

“I know that you came from the bottom,” Taehyung remarked, and at this he was pretty certain that he saw Seokjin stiffening in his seat. “If it wasn’t for Master Jeon you’d be still working for his father as a whore, correct me if I’m wrong. I doubt I am seen as Master Jeon told me everything.” Oh now the other man’s expression looked peeved. Rather cute actually, the way he seemed to puff his cheeks up. “That kind of upgrade, it seems like you’d have reason to want to keep Master Jeon at the top. These men I’m looking into want him torn from that position. Quite possibly torn into pieces. If we’re not the kind of men to be meddling then what’d you think happens to men like us when Master Jeon is removed from the picture?”

For near a minute the office room was silent, deathly silent. No sounds from the rest of the building. Taehyung could sense that Seokjin was holding his tongue because he had caught him out. The other man was trying to think of something to say in reply and yet he had nothing. It was a rather nice sensation having the last say for once, rather than always being the one left dumb. When Seokjin finally seemed to have sorted his thoughts out he shifted in his seat and sighed heavily.

“Damn, he really did pick a smart toy.”

Taehyung could only cock his head and offer him a rather pleased smile.

“…I’ll collect information on Lee Yoochun for you,” Seokjin said in a quiet voice as he dropped his eyes to his desk. “I can contact Master Jeon when I have substantial information on him. You can collect it on his behalf but Taehyung…I would advise you avoid looking into the Kim family. Just trust me on this. This isn’t about being loyal, this is about survival.”

“Why?” Taehyung asked him brusquely. “It’s my job to know Haedogje Pa business, if Master Jeon requests it of me then I have to collect info no matter what.”

“Yes, but if Master Jeon values your pretty little face then he would tell you the same thing. Let the important men sort it out Taehyung. You’re just fodder yes? Just like the rest of us.” Seokjin smiled at him and his expression had an almost bitter twist to it. “My advice is this: just find out what you can and when you start to get deep, force that shit onto someone else. Let them take the fall, or more aptly the bullet.”

“…OK,” Taehyung said as he shifted to get out of the chair. “Thank you for your assistance Seokjin.” He moved to cross the office room, grabbing the door handle and pulling it open. He was about to step outside of the office when the other man’s voice caught him by surprise.

“Master Jeon might tell you that you’re something more, a god if you will. But you’re just a man. And men die.” Seokjin paused for a moment and then gave him a smile. “Please close the door on your way out, Taehyung.”

Chapter Text

Taehyung supposed that he should find it very strange that he once again woke up in a room that wasn’t his own. He wasn’t surprised in the slightest however, because it was something he was very much starting to get used to. The sensation of the silken sheets against his bare skin rather than the usual cotton was pleasant, but not as pleasant as the sound of soft humming from somewhere in the penthouse suite. When he breathed in he could detect the mingled scents of Jimin’s perfume and Jungkook’s cologne, almost taste them. The perfume was floral and feminine whereas the cologne was woody and obviously masculine, a wonderful blend that he was now used to the scent and taste of. Taehyung recognised it with his tongue just as well as his nose.

His muscles were quite simply aching. It had been Jimin’s idea to visit the apartment block gym of course, and being woken up at 6am to be his training partner had been more than tiring. It had been nearly two weeks of missed workouts with Hoseok and his body had started to get used to limited exercise once more. So the workout routine had quite simply drained him and Taehyung hadn’t even realised that he had fallen asleep in the bed again after showering but he had. Had probably passed out in fact. But that wasn’t the only reason his muscles were aching, particularly his thighs. Taehyung shifted with a low series of groans, propping his head up on the palm of his hand so he could look across the suite.

He saw Jungkook in the kitchen area by the entrance door, moving around from the stove to the counters as he was presumably cooking. He had thought that the humming had been Jimin and yet he discovered it to not be the case. The younger man had a pleasant sounding tone, soft and husky, and it was strange hearing him hum like that. Probably because it was a normal thing to do when cooking or cleaning, and Jungkook wasn’t exactly normal. There were various pans on the stove bubbling away, the scent of meat hanging in the air.

“What time’s it?” Taehyung mumbled sleepily, forcing his eyelids to stay open. Jungkook glanced at his watch and told him that it was 7:30 am. Well, that meant he had had close to a half hour nap. “Shit, Jungkook, how’re you so awake right now? Do you ever sleep?”

“I’ll sleep when I’m old, or dead,” Jungkook retorted as he carried on flitting around the kitchen area. Taehyung shifted to sit up, suppressing a yawn behind his hand as he did. His damp hair was practically dry in the warmth of the suite air but when he swung his legs over the side and his feet brushed against the marble flooring it was cool on his soles.

“Mmm, that sounds like you.” Taehyung rubbed at his eyes hard enough to see stars and then he dropped his hands to his lap. From somewhere else in the suite came the sound of the shower, presumably Jimin still cleaning up. He wouldn’t be surprised if Jimin’s cleansing routine took half an hour. All of that scrubbing and washing and shaving and moisturising. It was a workout routine of its own. “Good morning, Jungkook.”

“…Good morning, Taehyung.”

He noticed the slight pause before the younger man replied, saw how he stopped in the act of stirring the contents of a hissing wok. It was as if he had been caught off guard by the affection even though he had said it to him every morning. Maybe it was the fact he was sitting on one of his beds, voice husky and bare skin on display, instead of standing by the check-in desk? Taehyung got out of bed and he felt his muscles complaining as he stood upright. He couldn’t help but press a hand against his lower back.

“Stiff?” Jungkook asked as he lifted an eyebrow at him languidly. “I’m used to the routine as is Jimin. You’ll get used to it soon enough.”

Taehyung knew that he wasn’t talking about the exercise workout. He was talking about the sex. He was talking about the several hours he had spent in their bed last night once more, being passed back and forth like a fucking parcel. Giving and receiving, more than once at the same time. Of having his wrists and ankles bound up to the sound of Jimin giggling and the hot sensation of Jungkook’s breath on his skin, fingers digging in just like the restraints. Taehyung doubted that he would ever get used to such a thing.

“Of course I will, Jungkook,” Taehyung muttered as he started getting dressed for the day.

He was in the act of fastening up his trousers when Jimin came down the stairs across the suite. The other man was dressed in that same silken robe of his, skin almost glowing. There was a happy smile on his face and he hunkered down to grab Wangbi’s head in his hands, peppering little kisses on her nose and above her eyes as he cooed sweetly at her. The cat stayed still on the chaise lounge, purring audibly at his touch and praises. Then he went over to the kitchen and started helping Jungkook set the table. It was covered in bowls of rice and grains Taehyung didn’t recognise. Namul was in several of the side dish bowls, and the presence of meat meant that once Wangbi was present and hoping for scraps.

It appeared that Jungkook had finally started that drug detox he had spoken about, a system cleanse. Most of his plate was covered in greens and grains rather than meat or rice. It was strange seeing him knocking back pills that were clearly vitamins rather than Adderall and eating rather than quaffing champagne. At least Taehyung could finally drink some coffee though he didn’t want to light a cigarette alongside it like usual. Just in case Jungkook really was detoxing. It was close to the end of the breakfast that a phone sounded loudly and the younger man shifted to grab his phone off the counter.

“Hang on, I have to take this call,” Jungkook excused himself as he hastily crossed the ground-floor and as he ascended the staircase Taehyung heard him answering the call. He watched him disappear out of sight and then turned back to Jimin. The other man grabbed a chunk of chicken and held it out for Wangbi to eat whilst Jungkook wasn’t present to nag at him. He winked at him as he held a finger up, telling him to keep it a secret between friends.

Taehyung wondered who had called him for him to excuse himself like that. Jungkook took calls from Woo in their company often so it must have been someone else. So he just collected the dishes together with Jimin and helped him clean them. When they were done the other man was crossing the suite to lounge on the bed, so he moved to sit with him. Wangbi was on the chaise lounge and he didn’t want to sit at the empty kitchen table on his own. After fifteen or so minutes Jungkook made his way down the stairs at a quick pace, fastening up his trousers as he did. There was a rather hectic feeling coming off him, as if he was in a rush to get ready. His bare feet padded across the marble flooring, tie dangling from the crook of his elbow and a jacket folded over one arm.

“What’s wrong, darling?” Jimin asked, clearly attuned to him perfectly to see that something had happened. Taehyung was amazed by the fact that he too had figured this out from a single glance. He was getting better at reading The Boy, almost eerily so.

“I have a meeting to attend,” Jungkook replied as he slipped his feet into a pair of loafers. “Woo is pissed off with me for having to change the schedule again but I can’t exactly turn this meeting down.”

“A meeting?” Taehyung asked in surprise. “What kinda meeting? Like with the tributaries, or another kinda meeting?”

“Another kind, one you’re not allowed to attend. My father wants to see me alone today,” Jungkook explained as he fixed his shirt cuff securely. The top buttons of his shirt were still undone and Taehyung could see a mottled bruise on the side of his neck, the one perfectly shaped just like his teeth.

“Do y’know why?” Taehyung asked him as he watched him move onto the second cuff.

“Oh I know why.” The younger man gave him a rather grim expression. “It’s because of Ahn. He’s pissed off about Ahn and he wants to tell me off for being naughty.” Jungkook rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. “I expected this the second I saw him at the funeral, he was pissed then and he’s still pissed now.”

Taehyung held his tongue and just watched him dress because he didn’t know what to say. Jungkook was in trouble for a murder that he had committed. Upon his demand of course but still. If Jeon was pissed off with his son…what position did that put him in? Possibly a very bad one, the kind that could see a bullet put in the back of his head if he wasn’t careful. Jungkook reached up to fasten up his shirt collar buttons and then he was hanging the tie around his neck.

“Does he know about the betrayal?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice. “About how Ahn was working against both of you?”

“Evidentially not,” Jungkook replied as he moved to sit down on the edge of the bed beside them. Jimin shifted to get close and then he was grabbing hold of the ends of his tie so that he could start knotting it for him. Jimin’s fingers moved deftly and showed much experience. Clearly he was as good with ties as he was with restraints. Taehyung watched him loop the front around and then poke the end through the top and down through the loop. When he pulled on the length it cinched tight and he adjusted the knot up to the top button of his shirt. They looked to be gold plated and inlaid with pearl, likely real for all he knew, the black wool tie clashing wonderfully against the white. “I had hoped that he had figured it out or had information on the matter but it seems not.”

Jimin finished with the knot and shifted to sit back down on the bed beside him, perfume wafting from his movements as he did. Jungkook reached up to pull on it, adjusting the knot and then straightening the lengths out. Then he got to his feet and crossed the suite to get to a table. There was a cut glass bowl on it and he sorted through it before pulling something free. Taehyung saw that it was a tie pin and he slipped it on.

“What are my plans for today, Jungkook?”

“You’re going to escort Jimin around for the day,” Jungkook explained as he collected his suit jacket and slipped it on. “Await information from me in regards to the meeting. No point in snooping around the snake nest right now, we’ve stirred them up. They’re apt to bite.” He fixed the lapels and then pulled the jacket together to fasten the middle buttons. “I would prefer Jimin have an escort today.”

Taehyung looked between them both and he thought about the unspoken words hanging in the silent air. Why exactly would Jungkook want him to have an escort if he was just going out for the day? An escort seemed to hint that maybe, just maybe the younger man was concerned about his current safety. Possibly because of what had happened to Ahn. Yet Jimin didn’t seem fazed at all. Maybe he was used to this, was escorted whenever he left the apartment block by other men? Almost like a celebrity, or a child.

“So you know what that means right, babe?” Jungkook said as he crossed the suite and reached down to touch Jimin’s cheek with the backs of his fingers. “It means: behave.”

“You know I never do,” Jimin retorted in a rather flirtatious tone. Jungkook leaned down and kissed Jimin like a husband leaving work would kiss his wife, hand on his cheek and a rather chaste press of his lips against his. Jimin pouted his lips out and up into a smile and then Jungkook broke the contact and got upright again. Taehyung realised that he had been staring at them both and before he could look away the younger man caught his gaze.

“Uh, good luck in the meeting, Jungkook,” Taehyung almost mumbled at him. He felt rather stupid sitting on the end of the bed like this, as if he should actually be standing by the door instead.

“What? No goodbye kiss for Tae?” Jimin remarked with a grin. Jungkook gave him a quick glance and then looked back at him again. Taehyung could only stare at him dumbly until he moved to stand in front of him.

There was no gentle palms on his cheek like with the other man. Jungkook placed his hand on the back of his head instead and he felt his fingers lightly tugging as he pulled his head back to get a better angle for the kiss. Taehyung just wished that he didn’t enjoy the way that Jungkook’s mouth pressed against his, the soft brush of his lips and the slight hint of his breath as he pulled his head away again. Enjoying the sex was one thing, but sex and kisses were completely different. It was a second of contact and nothing more, and he shouldn’t enjoy it.

“I’ll report back as soon as I have information,” Jungkook said as he let go of his hair. He gave his jacket a quick tug to straighten it out. “Supposing there’s any to report that is.”

Taehyung watched him cross the suite, eyes fixed onto the back of his head until Jungkook was opening the door and stepping out into the slight hallway. When the door clicked shut it plunged the suite into silence and the only sound he could hear was the soft rasping that Wangbi’s tongue made when she licked her paws clean, perched on the chaise lounge as if it were her throne. After a minute of silence the other man broke it.

“Can’t tie a tie but he can run an empire,” Jimin remarked wryly. The way that he rolled his eyes reminded Taehyung of exactly how his mother would do so before muttering “men” under her breath jokingly. “Sometimes I find it cute, other times it’s slightly concerning.”

“I can tie a tie,” Taehyung said, not really sure what he could say in response to this. It sounded almost like a brag, which was rather funny all things considered.

“You’ll be running an empire in no time then, Tae,” Jimin declared with that sweet smile of his. “Then I’ll have to call you Master too, hmm? Would you like that?” Taehyung felt his cheeks heating up and his rather awkward smile had the other man laughing. “Don’t be shy around me, Tae, I’m not the one to blush.”

“Jimin, what’s supposed to happen today exactly?” Taehyung asked to change the subject. He didn’t really expect to get an answer because there was a chance that Jimin wouldn’t know either. But Taehyung liked having a plan of action and today seemed like a wasted opportunity for him. He didn’t want to go on a glorified shopping trip with the other man, picking up designer clothes and sex toys. There were so many more things that he could do today, so much information that he could gather for the team outside. But with Jimin in tow…

“Mmm, let me think.” Jimin threw himself back on the bed with a heavy sigh and he stared at his reflection in the ceiling mirror. Taehyung saw how his hair fanned out on the sheets, how his bathrobe slipped to show a flash of his chest and quite a lot of his thighs. He looked like he was all set up for a photo shoot lying like that, effortlessly graceful and perfect. Jimin reached up with one hand to run his fingers over his lips, almost playing with them. “I have to collect a few things from a department store. More importantly I need to visit Min.”

“Min, who’s Min?” Taehyung asked as he slowly moved his fingers along the sheets towards his leg. Just so that he could touch his thigh, stroke his fingers along his smooth skin. Like what Jungkook often did to him whilst he was in the backseat of the car.

“Kookie’s personal dealer,” Jimin explained, seemingly unfazed by the sensation of his fingertips tracing whorls all over his thigh. Taehyung glanced at his face as he listened to him speak. “Best quality available, guaranteed. Also no chances of spiked or poisoned shit.”

Of course, it made perfect sense that Jungkook would need a personal dealer. Buying from just anyone was risky, downright dangerous. A bad batch of cocaine or pills and he would drop dead. But it wasn’t just the risk of accidental poisoning that Jungkook had to deal with. Someone might very much try to have him murdered, try to disguise it under an accidental overdose. Taehyung knew one Haedogje Pa man by the name of Min but he had absolutely no doubts that is wasn’t this man. After all he was dead. So who exactly was this new Min that Jimin had just mentioned?

“Plus, the dealer’s kind of cute…”

Taehyung had just looked away and across the suite when he said this and so he glanced back to see a rather mischievous smile on Jimin’s face. He looked rather sheepish and he briefly wondered if Jungkook had a clue that he found this so-called Min cute? Did it matter that he did? Would Jungkook care if he found another man attractive? After all, hadn’t Jimin been fucked by the pair of them? Or was he different, not the same as any other men that he might associate with? Jimin sat up slowly, reaching up to neaten a few stray locks of his hair as he did.

“That officer you stabbed yesterday was kind of cute too,” he remarked as he fixed the front of his bathrobe, pulling it closed again. “Young, don’t think I’ve seen officers that young in a while.” Taehyung started nibbling on his lower lip as he listened to him. Here Jimin was, talking about Hoseok and reminding him about it all again. The stabbing on the street. “You know…you would look cute in a police uniform.”

“…What?” He turned his head so sharply that he felt a muscle twinge in the back of his neck. A brief and horrible flare of pain.

“I said you would look cute in a police uniform, not the office wear type uniforms. I mean the ones regular beat cops wear, the all black ones yes?” Taehyung could only stare at him dumbly. “Kookie would too but he would never dress like the police. I joked around with him once, said that I wanted him to arrest me. He just pinned me down on a table and cuffed me and said he didn’t need a badge to do it.” Jimin laughed softly at this, as if it was a pretty funny story. “I’ll bet that he would let you arrest him though…”

“No, no I’d look stupid,” Taehyung disagreed with a head shake. “I look stupid in these suits, a police uniform would look even more stupid.”

“You look good in those suits,” Jimin disagreed as he climbed off the bed and crossed the suite. “And you would look in that uniform too, trust me.”

Taehyung watched him bounding up the staircase to go up onto the first floor. Jimin practically skipped up the winding staircase, bathrobe bouncing around his thighs and flashing an almost illegal amount of skin as he did. He disappeared into what was presumably a private bedroom area to get dressed. Taehyung could feel a strange sensation in his stomach, something that felt like unease. It was a mixture of Jimin mentioning Hoseok again and the fact that he had joked about the police. The very mention of the police was enough to make him nervous and he couldn’t just listen to Jimin joking about how he would look good as an officer. The last thing he needed was Jungkook hearing it and starting to wonder…

Jimin returned several minutes later, dressed in a fitted shirt and black trousers. He was in the act of looping a cashmere scarf around his neck and he had what looked like two coats folded over one arm.

“It’s cold, Tae, here.” He grabbed hold of one of the coats and then he held it out to him. Taehyung saw that it was a black overcoat, thick wool blend and clearly expensive. “Wear this.”

“Is it yours?” he asked as he accepted it. The material was smooth against his palms and it was very nice quality. Certainly expensive.

“No, it’s Kookie’s. You’re about his height and build. Might be a little loose but it doesn’t matter.” Jimin must have seen the surprise on his face for he laughed. “He never wears it, trust me he’s owned it forever and he never wears it.”

“I dunno, Jimin, I-”

“Put it on,” Jimin said, tone almost making it sound like an order. It was so very much like Jungkook that it was eerie. Taehyung studied him and he wondered if he ever used that tone on the younger man too, or if he wasn’t allowed. Then he shifted to open the coat and slip his arm inside it. When he was pulling his other arm through and fixing the collar Jimin beamed at him. “There, that’s better.” He moved to stand in front of him and smoothed the collar down with the fingers of one hand. “You look like a real master now.”

Taehyung had only been in one high-end store before, the one back in Gangnam-gu. Sharp , the tailors that belonged to Hodong of course. He didn’t really know how most high-end stores worked but he had imagined that pets weren’t allowed inside. Maybe they weren’t but no one told them otherwise and Wangbi was free to roam inside the store as if she owned the place, leash trailing along the floor as she did. Not that there were many customers inside to intimidate, for he could only see a few women and one or two looked to be assistants. As it was she didn’t do much roaming before deciding to curl up on a window ledge, no doubt attracting a great many stares from outside passing pedestrians.

Well, he guessed that it made sense that pets were allowed. After all he and Jimin had been admitted…

“Aren’t you scared she’ll escape?” Taehyung asked as he eyed Wangbi over the top of the shelf. Jimin was too short to do so, would have to stand on tiptoe to peer over it. For some reason he found this almost cute though he wasn’t exactly sure why.

“No, Wangbi’s a good girl,” Jimin replied as he started walking along the aisle. Taehyung felt something hooking around his wrist and when he looked down he saw that it was Jimin’s fingers grabbing hold of him. Not tightly but rather gently so that he could guide him across the store. “She’s never tried to escape. She likes her daddies too much to try that.”

Taehyung took that as a good enough answer and he didn’t ask any more questions. Instead he allowed him to pull him across and along the aisles. There were currently at a beauty counter set inside a massive department store and it seemed that Jimin had an order to collect from it. Taehyung imagined that he would have a very big order considering the amount of products he used. Yet Jimin crossed the counter and went right over to the perfume aisles rather than go over to the woman on the till.

“Aren’t these female perfumes?” Taehyung asked as he eyed the bottles. All of them were shaped like thin flutes or bowls, and there were strange ones that looked like novelties. All pinks or golds or lilacs in colour.

“They’re perfumes but that’s it,” Jimin replied. “So long as I smell sweet that’s all that matters. What do you prefer, Tae? The taste of my perfume on your tongue, or Kookie’s cologne?” He did have a point, the perfume did taste strangely wonderful on his tongue, almost like candy would taste. When Jimin picked up the samples and sprayed them into the air his nose almost itched from the amalgamation of scents. “Tell me about yourself, Tae?”

“Tell…tell you?” Taehyung turned his head to watch him and Jimin nodded at the question as he put the bottle back on the shelf.

“Yes, it just hit me that I know nothing about you except your name and face. That’s it.”

“But I’m not interesting, not at all,” he replied, feeling a little awkward right now. “Why would you wanna know about me?”

“Because we’re friends, Tae,” Jimin replied. “We’re friends, aren’t we?” Taehyung thought it over for a few seconds and then he nodded and agreed that they were. “OK, here’s a deal. You tell me about your boring life and I’ll tell you about mine,” he suggested with a smile. It made his eyes wrinkle at the corners in that same friendly manner as always, a true smile. One that Taehyung thought that he could trust. “Does that sound like a plan?”

“…Yeah, yeah, Jimin,” Taehyung agreed with a nod. “Well, where should I start? You want a Copperfield kinda answer or?”

“Ha, Kookie would like that one,” Jimin remarked with a laugh. “Tell me about how you ended up in Haedogje Pa first, that seems like a good start.” He ran his eyes along the shelf and yet it looked like he was just doing so for effect rather than really looking at the products.

“I left high school and enrolled right into military conscription,” Taehyung explained, the lies rolling off his tongue perfectly. He had rehearsed them for three solid months so he found that it wasn’t at all hard to do. “That’s where I learnt to handle guns and discipline. After being dismissed I was kinda out looking for trouble, y’know? I couldn’t get a decent job ‘cos I flunked most of my high school subjects so I ended up on the streets doing bad shit. Luckily for me I ended up earning the attention of a man that worked for Haedogje Pa. Lim, he works in Mapo-gu. Anyway, I thought I was gonna be some regular runner just like the rest of ‘em but he saw something better in me.”

“Because you’re smart,” Jimin said as he picked up another bottle, just nursing the weight between his hands. “Failed high school or not, you’re smart. Just in different way.”

“Yeah, real smart apparently. I started keeping records for him and next thing I know I was being escorted to a building and being told that I was a tribute; that I was going to be officially accepted into Haedogje Pa.” Taehyung paused and studied the deep green glass perfume bottle on the shelf before looking at him. “That was when Jungkook spotted me in the yard. He asked me a few questions and from that point he ended up taking me under his wing.”

“A smart decision, you’re both smart.” Jimin smiled at him warmly. “I wonder if he saw your smarts first or if he was distracted by your face?”

“What did he see in you first?” Taehyung asked. Jimin picked up the square deep green bottle of perfume rather than reply, fiddling the lid off to spray this one into the air. After a moment of silence he decided to carry on talking. “There’s nothing very interesting to tell you. When I was in the army I followed the same shit everyday over and over, working for Lim I had my head in books or my ass in front of a computer all day. Only when I was accepted into Haedogje Pa does it really get close to interesting.”

“So your childhood, that was boring too?” Jimin asked as he lightly cocked his head at him. A lock of hair slipped free and Taehyung shifted to brush it back for him because he was still holding the bottle. “Nothing interesting?”

“…Not really,” Taehyung lied with a nonchalant shrug. “I can’t really remember much of it that didn’t revolve around school and detention: boring. What about you, huh?”

“Oh, my life story is far from boring,” Jimin replied as he turned back to the shelf and placed the bottle down. “I can’t really remember much of my early childhood, but my strongest memory was the day that I was snatched off the streets. I remember it because I was at a park, playing with friends and my younger brother. Looking back on it, there were so many boys and girls at that park and I wonder what it was that made them pick me. A few times the ball we were playing with bounced out the park you see, and every time one of us would race out to get it before it rolled into the road. But it was when I ran out to get it that they grabbed me.”

“How?”

“There was an unmarked vehicle parked right outside the park. When I ran past it to get the ball the door swung open and someone grabbed me. It was that fast. One minute I was kicking and screaming the next I was out cold because they stabbed me in the neck with something. As I said I was seven at the time, maybe almost eight. Must have been a cute kid, still kind of chubby.” Jimin paused as he ran his fingers over another bottle, this one a tall and thin pink flute. “I think I should explain that when I was seven years of age I didn’t know a lot about the world. Back then I’m pretty sure that I was scared I had been kidnapped to be sold to some mean family or something stupid like that. I didn’t know what sex was and I most certainly didn’t know what happened to kidnapped little boys and girls.”

“Shit, Jimin…” Taehyung said in a quiet voice, not sure at all what else to say. He knew that he should say more but he seemed incapable of doing so.

“Yes, it was pretty shit, Tae. When you start being prostituted as a child you kind of get used to it fast. I had a list of clients, I was a personal favourite. There were men that literally paid Nam to take me out for the day; to amusement parks, to the cinema and stuff like that. Like I was their actual child, not a baby prostitute with an electronic tracking tag around my ankle so Nam knew where I was at all times. I got food, toys, clothes. I was a princeling amongst peasants under Nam and I still don’t really know why it was me. They must have sensed something in me I guess, sensed that I was in desperate want for attention and something close to parental love. I mean, the fucking kind of ruined that part but the attention was what I craved and they gave it to me.”

“Nam? You mentioned Nam. The same Nam I’m thinking of?”

“Yes, the same Nam. He was young himself back then, a pimp really. He ascended to his highest position when I was a teen I think.” Jimin paused before continuing. “So when he did he took me with him. I guess you could say that I was his favourite too. I made too much profit to be left in the hands of lesser ranked Haedogje Pa men. So for a few years I was pimped out at meetings instead of getting to go on day trips. Then one night I was being approached with some offer to star in films for a certain ‘Master Jeon’ who I had never heard of back then. All I knew was that he paid well and there was blood work and stuff, so it was safe and official. So I gave some blood samples and a few evenings later I’m stepping into this massive penthouse suite. It was crazy.”

“That’s how you met Jungkook?” Taehyung asked in surprise. He wasn’t really sure what he had been expecting but for some reason this story surprised him. Knowing that Nam had something to do with Jimin…suddenly he was seeing the bigger picture here. Seeing why Jungkook might have wanted the man dead for more than just his attempted rape.

“Yes, a few months ago I was picked to star in his films. Only then did I find out that he was the heir to Haedogje Pa. Whores don’t really get told these things, Tae.” Jimin laughed to himself. “So that night I found myself getting fucked in front of a bunch of cameras. Fucked by relatively attractive young men I suppose, but sadly the kind that could fuck for longer than five minutes.”

“Was he there that night?” he asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

“Watching my every move and asking me to stay behind after the others had left. I thought I was in trouble or maybe that he was going to ask me to star in more films. I know you’ll probably find it hard to believe but that night was actually sweet,” Jimin said, a soft smile lifting up the corners of his lips. “If you remove the pornography of course. Kookie said so many things to me, nice things. The kind of shit clients said to try and get discounts. Except with him it was actual compliments. He kissed me and teased me and in the end I was the one begging him to fuck me for once.”

Taehyung would have found it hard to imagine Jungkook being sweet had he not acted that way with him yesterday. The touches and kisses in his apartment room, all of his words about loyalty and how good he was. He wondered what that actually meant now that he had heard Jimin speak of something similar. Was it all just pretend, manipulation, or was it maybe the truth?

“Being a whore meant that I didn’t have to orgasm when working too, and I didn’t. My clients just couldn’t perform at all. I can’t really explain what it feels like to be fucked your entire life and then be fucked by Kookie I mean.” Jimin paused and Taehyung could only wait silently for him to continue. “I experienced my first true orgasm with him. It was the most intense and scariest moment of my life I think, because I had never felt something like that before and I had thought that I never could.”

“The films?” Taehyung asked him, not having to explain further because he knew that Jimin knew what he was talking about.

“All because of Kookie. When I star in them and he’s present it helps. If not I think of him and it does. I don’t take pills like the other actors, I just play pretend.” Jimin picked up the green bottle again and held it up to him. “I think this is the one.”

Jimin had to wait at the counter for several minutes whilst the order was processed. When one of the workers returned she did so carrying two large bags, colourful pink paper visible sticking out that the bottles and jars were wrapped in. Taehyung wasn’t at all surprised to see him covering the costs with a black credit card, one that no doubt belonged to Jungkook. He carried the bags for the other man, allowing him to keep hold of Wangbi’s leash and walk her through the department store. Taehyung was aware of how many eyes were on them as they passed. Most of the people probably wondered if Jimin was a celebrity, maybe a model or even the son of a chaebol. Taehyung wondered if any of them had a clue that he was actually a porn star and certified bed warmer for the heir of the most powerful mob in the country. Probably not, Jimin looked far too sweet for that. But whatever the case all of the eyes on him made Taehyung increasingly aware of the weight of gun holster under his arm.

They flitted from store to store, into lingerie stores that Jimin bought underwear from. Taehyung found it hard to not imagine him wearing the silken and lace panties, the stockings. Then into another to buy a tie for Jungkook to replace the one that had been ‘ruined’ last night. Ruined meaning that it had been stretched out of shape around one of the bed posts and his wrist. Lastly into an adult store. Taehyung also had to struggle to not stare at the displays inside the store: the racks of legal imported pornographic magazines and films, the crotchless panties and pasties on mannequin bodies and whips and cuffs displayed on the walls. There was an aisle filled with so many colourful varieties of lube that it was like looking at a convenience store drink aisle. Taehyung tried to imagine Jungkook wandering into a store like this but it was a difficult mental image to figure out. He didn’t know if it was all too tame for him or whether or not he would be as bold as to request free samples.

By the time they were climbing back into the car Taehyung was carrying so many bags his shoulders were starting to ache from the weight. Settling down in the backseat of the car was hard seen as Wangbi decided to use his thigh as a cushion, forepaws curled up so she could place her head on his lap.

“Yang, you know where to next. Yes?” Jimin asked as he settled back in the seat with a rather tired sigh. The chauffeur replied that he did as he started the engine and pulled it away from the curb.

Taehyung kept his eyes on the window as they traveled and it rapidly came to his attention that they were leaving Gangnam-gu. Clearly Jungkook’s dealer didn’t work in the same area as he did. So where was he situated? He tried to keep track of the district roads, of how long they were travelling for but it was hard. At some point he felt himself getting lost in the maze of buildings and similar looking streets, so he just settled back and waited for the car to stop. It could have been half an hour later, it could have been a whole hour, he had no way of telling but when the car finally stopped he looked over at Jimin and then the window again.

“Where are we?” Jimin explained that they were at the correct location. “Where’s the location, what district?”

“Yongsan-gu,” the other man replied and yet he made no move to get out of the car. He was just sitting there with Wangbi mostly on his lap, likely covering his clothes with golden and white fur. But she looked very content, eyes half-mast and a soft rumbling like the car engine coming from her chest.

“Are you coming?” Taehyung asked as he shifted to grab the door handle.

“Mmm, I don’t like waiting around. You go collect it,” Jimin said, more or less an order as he carried on playing with Wangbi’s neck fur. “Just be sure to specify you’re here for Kookie. If the man gets a little pissy then say: I’ve got a pain in my ass and you know how to fix it.” Taehyung didn’t really know what that meant and he stared at him rather dumbly, hand wrapped around the door handle. Yet judging from Jimin’s face he was being deadly serious. “Trust me, they’ll let you in. From that point just ask to see Min and you’ll be allowed to collect the order.”

Taehyung shoved the door open and stepped out into the curb. His loafers crunched on the gritty paving slab as he slammed the door shut and eyed the building. It was a very professional-looking building and a banner hanging from the side informed him in cursive characters that it was in fact an acupuncturists. A front of course, he knew that it was. A great front though because it fit into the area perfectly. Not at all out of place. A glance around showed a massive gym across the street, a herbal medicine store and several small tea houses. Taehyung fixed his coat - Jungkook’s coat - and he crossed the sidewalk to push the door open. He stepped inside the building to see a reception area with dark wood and glass, walls painted a deep blood red. There was a door to one side but central to the room was a desk and there was a man standing behind it. A wizened old man with enough wrinkles on his face and hands he almost looked like a road map. He eyed him through small and rather piercing eyes and Taehyung stopped in front of the counter.

“Here for Master Jeon,” he explained as he glanced over the area. There were Chinese scrolls hanging on the wall, which he couldn’t read more than one or two characters from. “To pick up a shipment.” The man on the desk stared at him unblinkingly, hands neatly folded on the glass. He swallowed hard and decided to do what Jimin had told him to do. “I’ve got a pain in my ass and uh, y’know how to fix it. Right?”

“…Follow me,” the old man said before ducking under the counter. He did so with considerable ease considering how old he looked. Then he was guiding him in the direction of the door so Taehyung followed along behind him.

The backroom of the acupuncturists was connected through a narrow hall. Walking along it Taehyung could almost feel the walls brushing against him but he could barely see them in the dim lighting. There were several rooms in which people were getting treatment, the calming scent of incense hanging in the air. He saw mostly women performing the treatments, wearing white uniforms that consisted of loose trousers and high-necked blouses, hair pulled back in tight buns. He didn’t catch sight of any women receiving treatment however, but mostly older men that weren’t much younger than his guide. The man walked the length of the hallway and then stopped in front of an open room, a quick glance inside showing that it was empty.

“Just downstairs,” the man said before stepping out the room and leaving him alone. He turned his head to watch him go down the hallway and then looked back at the room. There were no stairs in sight. There was nothing more than an unused table and-

Taehyung realised that he was talking about a trapdoor. There was a hidden door right there under that fucking table he was sure of it. So he moved over to push it aside and then experimentally pressed his foot down on the flooring it revealed. After a second or two he felt the slightest shifting under his foot and so he hunkered down and ran his fingers along it until he found a seam in the wood. Taehyung snagged hold and lifted the trapdoor up and it revealed a flight of stairs. He studied them before sighing and getting back upright to walk down them.

The staircase lead down into a small den area filled with men. Most of them were smoking and under the smoke he could also detect herbal tea. Judging from the woman holding the teapot they were sampling that rather than hard liquor. He saw cards being dealt and fanned in front of faces, boards of Go and stacks of cash. At his arrival one or two turned to look at him and so he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders.

“I’m here to see Min, on behalf of Master Jeon.” For a few seconds no one moved or said anything. Then one of the men shifted to tap the woman on the arm. She placed the teapot down and got to her feet, sweeping an arm out to tell him to follow her. Taehyung didn’t really need an escort but he stepped around the low tables to follow after her anyway.

“This is your first time?” she asked without looking back at him. Her accent sounded stilted, not Korean at all. He studied the back of her head and then looked at her bare shoulder to see a scar there. One he recognised very well; marked property. Taehyung told her that it was. “You’ll have a good time.”

Taehyung was taken down another small hallway and he saw a man waiting on one door across the room. It was only small, a waiting area he supposed. But one with concrete walls and flooring. There were several pieces of furniture but Taehyung decided to not sit on any of them. He didn’t know what they had been used for. The dark leather made it hard to see if there were any stains on the material. The woman gave him a slight bow before turning and going back into the den, low heels clicking as she did.

There was a window on one of the walls but it wasn’t to look outside of course. Rather it showed the interior of a large factory-like area. Taehyung moved to look through it and he saw countless tables and what must have been about fifty people inside. It took him a few seconds of staring before he saw that everyone in the factory area were only wearing their underwear, in the case of the women not even bras. There were latex gloves and masks present, along with countless pieces of equipment: beakers, burners, syringes. Taehyung eyed this all before he realised that he was standing outside of a production factory.

There was a massive drug production factory right here in Yongsan-gu and his team had no fucking clue.

When he glanced over at the man on the door he saw a holster strapped in place under his jacket. The man informed him that no one was allowed past this point, but Min had been informed and he wouldn’t be waiting for long. He wondered if Jungkook would be allowed past as he turned his head and studied the factory again. They were definitely producing heroin in there, that much he was certain of. Everything else was guess work. Taehyung watched the factory intently and after a minute or two he noted that someone was crossing the floor to get to the door. Clearly to talk to the worker or something, maybe about something to do with shipments. Except the man stepped right out of the factory past the armed guard and it hit him that this might just be…

“Min?” Taehyung asked in slight confusion as he stared at him.

“Min Yoongi, actually,” he replied as he reached up to pull his mask free.

Cute? Maybe if he had a thing for shrimps. Clearly Jimin liked twinks for the dealer was pale and terribly thin. Not at all liked he had expected, for he had pictured someone much stronger than this. Tall, well-built, charismatic in a possibly obnoxious way. This young man was wearing nothing but his underwear and he looked like he had last slept a week ago. His hair was a bleached mess and around his eyes the skin looked lightly bruised.

“I’m here for Master Jeon,” he explained, trying to not drop his eyes and stare at his body but it was hard.

“Uh, just lemme get dressed, man,” Yoongi said as he let go of the mask and let it dangle around his neck. There was also a necklace around his neck, one with a key rather than a charm. He looked over the area for a few seconds before gesturing for him to follow him over to another room across the waiting area. So Taehyung crossed the area to step into the other room. It was a small box room, possibly an office of some kind judging from the contents. The computer on the rather battered desk was certainly well-maintained and expensive and he could see three monitors hooked up to it. A quick glance at the screens showed one filled with digits that looked like a bankroll, the other a surveillance system of the factory. The final one was just a desktop and Taehyung stared at a wallpaper of a rather fluffy cat in mild confusion and amusement.

“Hey, uh, what’s with the underwear?” Taehyung asked as the other man went over to the desk.

“No clothing allowed near production,” Yoongi explained as he reached up to rub at his eyes. His voice was a rather sleepy mumble. Maybe even drunk. Pleasant to listen to but also rather sleep-inducing. Then he was collecting something off the desk. “Just in case someone tries to smuggle out a rock or ten, y’know? Hard to hide that shit in a pair of underpants.” He pulled the oatmeal pullover on roughly, ruffling his already messy bleached hair. It hanged from his thin frame, much too big for him. Taehyung wasn’t even surprised by the hole in the elbow. “That’s why you weren’t allowed.”

“…I see,” Taehyung said after a moment of silence. “What happens if they try and smuggled something outta here?”

“You kidding me, right?” Yoongi asked as he furrowed his brow. It made his already small but rounded eyes thin considerably. “What happens is…” he lifted one arm and stabbed his hand against the side of his head, fingers curled up and pointed to make the shape of a gun. “Boom,” he breathed out as he mimed pulling a trigger. Taehyung thought about how Kangho’s head had exploded when he had pulled the trigger and then he dropped his eyes to study the other man’s bare feet.

“Seems like an overreaction…” The other man made a noise at this as he nodded. His expression showed that he thought so too, but clearly it wasn’t his idea.

“He’s never sent you before.” The way Yoongi played with the pullover sleeves was almost endearing in its own way. Not how he had imagined a drug dealer to act at all. Even his toes curled up as he rocked back on the heels of his feet, a childishness coming off him. Taehyung noted that he had either decided not to wear his trousers or he had forgotten. “Usually he sends, uh, shit what’s his name? It’s-” Taehyung was about to say Jimin to help him out when he made a noise and his slight shoulders shot up, “ah! Honey, he usually sends Honey.”

“Honey?”

“Nickname,” Yoongi said in that same mumbling way of his. “Dunno his name so I called him Honey. Kinda fitted him.” He mentally agreed with this statement because it was very fitting for Jimin indeed. “So uh, what’re you his new thing now?”

“I work for Master Jeon,” Taehyung said as he watched the man tottering around the room. He seemed to be going to collect something and he reached up to grab a board that was on the wall, a map of Seoul labelled with countless pins and sticky notes. When he pulled it free Taehyung saw a safe built into the wall. One that he clearly stored important stuff in.

“Key key key, where’s my fucking key where- oh.” Yoongi seemed to figure out that it was dangling around his neck and so he reached up to grab hold of the chain and pull it off. “Shit, I need to stop smoking on the job, man.” He started laughing as he turned back to the safe. Taehyung knew that he wasn’t talking about regular cigarettes. “But I’m always fucking working so…” The man inserted the key and twisted it hard to unlock it. Then he was opening the safe door and pulling something out. A thick manilla envelope.

“Right,” Yoongi got upright and he carried the envelope over to him, rubbing his eyes again with his free hand. “This is the usual but there’s uh…a bonus. Got a month’s supply of Viagra for the actors, maybe. Unless he keeps hosting orgies that is. Um, month’s supply for Honey. 50mg of Valium and 25mg of whatever the fuck the sleeping pills are called. Can’t remember.”

Taehyung wondered where the hell Jungkook had found a dealer like him. Yoongi couldn’t even remember the names of the shit he was selling.

“For Master Jeon there’s coke, sealed. Got a few hits from that, I’d estimate about ten? Also a month’s supply of Adderall too, ‘cos I know he needs that shit to function. He’s so fired up twenty-four-seven, man, I couldn’t be that high.” Yoongi practically shoved the envelope at him and Taehyung managed to not drop it in surprise. “Oh, pass this along too. Tell him: Choi’s fucking around again. Selling fucking seeded on the streets and charging for cut like I can’t tell the fucking difference. I’ve seen it, I know. If he keeps doing it he’s gonna fuck up standardised prices and other dealers are gonna be in trouble.”

“OK, Choi’s fucking up prices for marijuana. Got it.”

“Nice, you’re smart. But Honey’s prettier, sorry. More talkative too.” Yoongi gave him a rather wide smile, one that showcased a lot of gum. “But you seem like you could be chill, I guess? Either that or you’re nuts.”

“Nuts?” Taehyung asked him surprise, fingers tightening around the parcel.

“Yeah, you look like you could be fucking crazy. Like my old man.” Yoongi carried on playing with his pullover sleeves. He studied his face for a moment and that was when it hit Taehyung who he was talking to. Min Yoongi, as in Min Yoonseok. Anyone that knew Haedogje Pa knew Min Yoonseok. The man was legend, having served under Jeon for almost three decades of his life before being murdered. And right now he was looking at his son. “But Master Jeon likes ‘em crazy.”

“He does?” Yoongi nodded again. It seemed like a habit of his. He didn’t really what what he meant by that.

“So you’re Haedogje Pa and not an actor?” the other man asked as he stopped fiddling with his sleeves and shifted to sit at his desk. He hit a few buttons and then moved the mouse around with a few quick wrist movements. Taehyung told him that he was, not entirely sure why he hadn’t left yet. “You killed a guy yet?”

“…Yeah,” he said in a quiet voice. “Yeah, I’ve killed a guy.”

“Then I’ll be sure not to piss you off, pretty boy,” Yoongi muttered as he folded his arms on the desk and lowered his head onto them. “Hey?” His voice was muffled. “If Master Jeon let’s you kill Choi for me I promise free merch, yeah?” Taehyung studied the top of his bleached head rather than reply. “Shit, I’ll bring it to the suite personally so you can all get high without having to stop the orgy.” He was just about to step out of the room when he heard him add. “Might just join in.”

Jungkook didn’t like his father’s office room one bit. Not the one in the actual family home of course but rather the substitute one across the capital. It wasn’t that he disliked the room. Not at all. He rather liked the entire wall of windows that stretched the length of the office room, showcasing a great deal of the district from the vast height of the office block. Currently he could see other buildings that looked like they were made from a child’s set of toy blocks: concrete and brick and glass. There was a radio tower spiking up on the skyline and he could see enough roads to watch the traffic flow and gridlock should he want to. Right now that seemed like a great idea to the alternative, which was looking at his father.

The reason that Jungkook didn’t like the office room was because he didn’t like sitting on the other side of the desk to be scrutinised like this. Well, had his father not been pretending to look over papers to make him feel like a child of course. It was all pretend, a drawn-out game. The man was waiting for him to crack and say something to break the silence but Jungkook wasn’t going to do that. It was unprofessional. When invited to another man’s office it was respectful to not speak until addressed. If he had to hold his tongue for the next seven hours Jungkook would. Just to prove to his father that he wasn’t weak. He had already been in the chair for twenty-five silent minutes now, punctuated only by the sound of rustling paper, a scratching fountain pen nib and the soft ticking of the wall clock to his left.

Fucking Ahn. As if he hadn’t been enough trouble. Now he was causing even more from beyond the grave just to piss him off. He shouldn’t be here right now, he should be doing something important instead and yet here he was. Wasting precious business hours with his thumb up his ass.

“You had Ahn murdered, didn’t you?” his father asked to break the silence. Jungkook dragged his eyes away the windows to look at him. Ah, this was where he had learnt his ways from of course. Straight to the point as always, no time for messing around. Going in for the kill rather than toying with prey. He had learnt from a great master it would seem. It was clear that his father hadn’t asked him this as a question but had rather simply announced it as a statement. He hadn’t even looked up at him but rather continued signing a sheet of paper.

“Yes I did,” Jungkook replied in an enthusiastic tone. Even gave him a nod as he sat fully upright in his seat.

“You also had a police officer attacked the day of the funeral too. Another mistake on your behalf, are you planning on a third?” His father made a noise at this, a rather exasperated noise. “The police are mostly on our side, son, start attacking them and you will start changing their minds.”

“Even with the money flowing into their corrupt fucking wallets?” he retorted with an eyebrow raise. “I know that you let a little more flow their way after the incident so right now I don’t see the problem?”

“Of course you don’t see it. Was Ahn murdered by your own hand or by an associate?” More scraping sounds coming from his pen, eyes not moving off the papers. His father sounded and looked bored but he wasn’t. He was alert and watching him out the limits of his periphery like a hawk.

“I was at a charity gala that night, daddy,” Jungkook explained. “For poor children that won’t hurry up and die just to inconvenience me. An associate dealt with him for me. Dealt with him spectacularly I must say, just as well as I could have and-”

“Oh, is this the same associate of yours that you’re fucking?” his father interrupted as he finished with the papers and proceeded to gather them together. The sound of them tapping against the wood was irritating. The man looked up at him and so Jungkook took a moment to study his face before replying. There wasn’t much in similarity between them at all, Jungkook had certainly inherited his mother’s softer features. His father had a rather severe face, a squared brow and rather strong jaw and nose. The most common feature they both shared was their eyes, though not the shape or size. Rather just the intensity of their gazes. Jungkook supposed that some might say that he had his father’s scowl, but at least he had yet to get his scowl and frown lines.

“Is it a pressing matter that I answer that question?” Jungkook retorted as he watched him place the papers aside. “Seen as we both know that you know the answer already.”

“I do know the answer and I was hoping that you would prove me wrong, Jungkook,” his father sighed and shifted to sit back in his chair ever so slightly. “You don’t pick associates in that manner, son. We’ve spoken about this. You’re supposed to see eye to eye with a man, trust him with your assets and nothing more. You’re not supposed to fuck him.”

“Why not?” Jungkook retorted as he shrugged, lifting his hands up as he did. “It’s just fucking, daddy.”

“You’re eighteen years of age, Jungkook,” his father said in a stern tone. “You think you understand the world but you don’t. You think things like that can happen without any complications but you’re wrong. Fucking leads to feelings, feelings lead to complications, complications lead to trouble.”

“Oh…oh, you think this is about feelings?” Jungkook lowered his hands and then he smiled at him, a very amused smile. “I’m not going to fall in love with him.”

“Woo informed me that when he entered your suite the morning of the funeral there were two men in your room, sharing your bed in fact. One was this Kim Taehyung fellow you call an associate, the other was that prostitute that you keep flaunting around.”

“Jimin’s not a prostitute,” Jungkook explained as he folded his hands on the desk. “He’s an actor, a fantastic actor. Stars in my films and-”

“It’s been several months since I was alerted about him and he’s still present,” his father continued over him. “Is this another stellar example of how to fuck men and not get attached? Because it’s not a very good example. You don’t share: penthouse suites, millions of won, high-class restaurant dinners, valuable information, and beds with people you fuck for entertainment, Jungkook. Those people are kicked out the second you’ve pulled out, yes? You share those things with lovers. Correct me if I’m wrong, son.”

“He’s an investment,” Jungkook said in a low voice. He knew that the man saw right through him. “Jimin’s a precious investment. I need him for my films and-and Taehyung is…” He found himself suddenly short of words. Jungkook had heard that rather horrible stutter of his, that slight moment in which he had been hesitant to speak. He had never stuttered before and yet here he was, stuttering like a fucking child in front of his father. He wanted to tell him that Taehyung was an associate but that hadn’t worked in his favour earlier. It wouldn’t work now. Thinking of something to actually label Taehyung as other than that was surprisingly hard now that his father had stripped that option away.

“Hmm, thank you for proving my point,” his father remarked. Jungkook set his jaw in annoyance as he stared at him from across the thin stretch of table. “You fuck men for fun without any attachment, and yet you’ve formed attachments to one already. One you keep telling me is an investment. This whore, Jimin, I think what you mean by this is that Jimin’s a vessel for you to invest your feelings into. Am I wrong, Jungkook?”

“I don’t have feelings.”

“We both know that you do, son, you’re just lying because you’re upset.”

“I don’t have feelings and I’m not upset!” Jungkook snapped at him, unable to curb both his voice and the sour expression on his face. This just made his father laugh as he sank back in his leather chair. It creaked from the movement.

“There’s that old Jeon temper,” he said with a smile. “I was waiting for it to appear.”

“I think there’s a much more important issue at hand that we should be discussing other than who I’m fucking,” Jungkook argued, hating how hot his cheeks felt. “We should be discussing why your man, Ahn Kangho, was assisting in causing an uprising against both of us by going against your wishes.” At this his father’s grin lessened, slowly slipping down at the corners. “That’s what my man found out, that’s what Taehyung found out.”

“Ahn was a great man, he’s not the kind to do such a thing.”

“One of my men was wearing a wire and he recorded the entire thing, from start to finish. I have it on my phone if you want to listen to it. You can hear him admit to a great many things.” Jungkook reached inside his jacket pocket and slipped the phone free so that he could place it on the table.

“What did he say?”

“He said that I wasn’t fit to take over our empire upon your wishes and that he was saving it from its own destruction. He also gave two names, though only one of them was given in full. An unknown Kim and a man called Lee Yoochun.” At this he saw his father’s gaze shift to stare at the phone. Was that interest or shock? He couldn’t really tell. “Do you know a man by that name? Because I don’t and neither does my man.”

“…Yes, I know a man by that name,” he said in a quiet voice as he lifted a hand to rub at his mouth. Jungkook knew that habit well, for it was something that he did when he was thinking. “He definitely said Lee Yoochun?” He nodded in confirmation and his father dropped his gaze to study his desk. “God-fucking-damnit, Ahn.” He cursed as he dropped his hand from his mouth, fingers curling in instinctively in annoyance.

“That’s what Taehyung found out for me,” Jungkook repeated as he collected his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. “He’s not a whore, he’s a worker and he knows many things.”

“Jungkook, your man murdered one of my own.”

“Upon my orders, daddy.”

“Do you think that I can just let this slide? That I can know the name of the man that killed my own and just let it go unresolved?” Jungkook held his father’s gaze and he knew exactly what he was saying. He was telling him that Ahn’s death needed to be avenged. “What do you have to say on the matter, Jungkook?”

“…My men are your men,” Jungkook said after a moment of thought. “Taehyung is your man. You would be avenging the death of one of your own men by killing another of your own. Except unlike Ahn, Taehyung has been loyal only to you.” He wasn’t going to tell him about how Taehyung had sworn fealty to him on his hands and knees. That he had promised to value him above every other man in the gang. “Taehyung killed a traitor. Do you think a traitor is truly one of your own?”

“You speak highly of this man, Kim,” his father stated as he folded his hands on the table. “Aren’t you placing too much trust on this one man, son?”

“No, I told you earlier. Taehyung is my associate. I’m training him. He won’t go against me and if he does he will be punished.” Jungkook mimicked his seating position. “If he betrays me I’ll kill him with my own two hands.” His father held his gaze steady, not at all fazed by this declaration in the slightest. “Now, daddy, do we have any business to discuss? Or should we start thinking about the purge?”

“It’s too soon for a purge, son,” he replied without the slightest hesitation. “You need more time to establish yourself as a power. What we need to do-” his father pulled a desk drawer open and retrieved a remote from it, pressing a button on the piece of sleek plastic plastic. Across the office a massive monitor screen turned on. “Is find out all of the snakes. This associate of yours, what does he specialise in exactly? Except fucking.”

“Information: men, names, connections, profit margins, everything you need to know about a man he can learn.”

“So what are you training him for?”

“I’m training him to be the perfect associate,” Jungkook explained as he turned in his seat to eye the monitor. His father was already loading up a database on his tablet, hundreds of faces staring at them from the screen. “Taehyung’s going to be able to sniff the snakes out for me and bite off their heads. Just like Kim was for you, an equal partner. I’m going to make Taehyung my partner.”

Chapter Text

It had been several days now and yet Seokjin still hadn’t gotten back to him. Taehyung had been waiting all of that time in the hopes that he would be getting a call or private visit from Jungkook informing him that the other man wanted to see him because he had the information. But nothing had happened yet beyond impatient waiting. Seokjin had promised to look into the name that Ahn had given him before he had murdered him, one Lee Yoochun. Taehyung didn’t need him to tell him who the man was for he had done a little of his own research during the waiting process. Searching Jungkook’s database had given him a very easy answer but from there he had had to go deeper. Find connections, find motives for his involvement in helping bring about a rebellion against Jeon’s heir. That was the hard part, the confusing part that he required a little assistance with.

He didn’t have dirt, not yet. Nothing about his illicit vices or disgusting behaviour. But at least Taehyung knew who he was and that was important. Lee Yoochun was a middle-aged man, tall and terribly gaunt. He had thick wire rimmed glasses and mostly grey hair. Looking at him on his computer screen was strangely like looking at Woo, except there was a major difference. Whereas Woo had an owlish and cold feeling coming off his face, Lee had a confident and somewhat smarmy feeling. He looked like a man in power that believed he deserved it. A good businessman and even better swindler. Learning his appearance was important but there were other aspects too, other things that deserved equal attention. The most important fact that he had so far uncovered about Lee was the fact that he belonged to Jeon. Just like Ahn, another man that worked for him but wanted to stop his plans of ascension for Jungkook by sidling up to the Kim clan.

That was something, he just hadn’t figured out what the something was yet. Two generals rebelling against their leader and his heir, two generals with many men under them and some sort of influence from an equal, or higher source of power. Taehyung didn’t know many men with that level of power, just enough to count on one hand, and only one of those men had the surname Kim.

If Taehyung wasn’t being escorted around the capital in the backseat of Jungkook’s Mitsubishi; sitting in meetings as a witness and occasionally vocalising discontent with men that Jungkook was pissed off with, then he was sitting at the desk in his apartment room. It was just like working back in the police department, tapping and clicking away on his computer and scanning lines and lines of database entries. Taehyung found that he felt incredibly at ease doing this, almost happy in fact. He liked sitting at his desk and using his brain and knowledge to connect it all up like a complex puzzle. But the one aspect he liked the most was being able to report back to Jungkook and tell him that he had information.

Jungkook would lower himself to sit on the edge of his desk, hands folded primly in his lap and he would look down at him with a great interest. When Taehyung would explain, would ramble on and on and maybe gesture at a photograph or entry on the screen, and he would see how his eyes never left his face once. And when he was done the younger man would give him a smile, lips lifting up at the corners as he opened his mouth and said:

“ Good, Taehyung. ”

“ You’re so much better than Woo. ”

“ Such hard work deserves a reward. ”

The most prominent thing that he and Namjoon had discussed, those few months back, had been about the struggles of a power shift. Of course when Jungkook took over there would be great changes to Haedogje Pa. The old would replace the new and that was clearly going to cause some troubles. Right now Taehyung was caught up in the middle of one such attempt at resisting change, and he was trying his hardest to solve it. That was what these rebelling men seemed to hint at, a retaliation at the upcoming purge. He and Namjoon’s assumptions had been correct all along it would seem.

Did Namjoon or the rest of the team have a clue what was going on? Did they have any idea about Ahn’s death being linked to an attempted rebellion or did they think it was just another petty gang hit? He was going to have to find a way to tell them about it all but right now he couldn’t seem to get enough free time to contact the team. Jungkook was always there hovering over him, watching his every move and not allowing him to leave the apartment block. But he would find a way to do so soon, the moment that he had ample information to report back rather than just guesswork. Hopefully the team didn’t hate him after what had happened to Hoseok. He wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

Taehyung was in the act of eyeing a series of business transactions between Lee and one of Jungkook’s men, a man that worked in Dongjak-gu by the name of Rhee, when the door across the room opened. He had been checking everything he could find with Lee’s name on it, attempting to find out if he could link business deals together and find possible allies for the man. Yet Lee seemed to have his name on everything and anything imaginable. He required Jungkook’s level of business knowledge to make any kinds of assumptions, and as luck would have it it was Jungkook that stepped into his room. Perhaps he would be able to tell him if these documents were important or typical business shit that he didn’t need to focus on?

“You’re still working?” he asked as he crossed the apartment room to get closer to him. Taehyung turned in his seat to look at him, hands hovering over the keyboard. He explained that he was, that he was searching Lee Yoochun again. This made Jungkook laugh softly under his breath. “Do you ever take a break, Taehyung?”

“Do you, Jungkook?” he asked in a rather teasing manner.

“Sometimes, it’s rare but sometimes I take breaks. Tonight is one of those nights and that’s why I want you to help me enjoy it.” Taehyung shifted back in his chair as he eyed him, wondering what he meant by that. Wouldn’t his break revolve around Jimin? Something like an evening dinner at a high-class restaurant or even slipping into bed beside the other man and spending a few hours blissfully tangled up in his limbs and his sheets. Yet that seemed to not be the case. Jungkook’s current idea of enjoyment seemed to revolve around him and that sparked his curiosity.

“Shouldn’t I carry on researching Lee?” Taehyung asked, reaching up to run his hand through his hair. Jungkook moved to stand behind his chair and then his hands were dropping onto his shoulders. His palms were warm as he started massaging at his shoulders, thumbs pressing down into his skin through the material of his shirt. Well this was a pleasant surprise, yet one that seemed to carry heavy connotations.

“I’ve got another job for you, Taehyung,” he explained as he rubbed hard circles into his flesh. “One so much better than databases and computers.”

“What…what kinda job?” Taehyung asked, rolling his head back to try and look up at him. In his mind he saw a flash of a knife blade and he almost heard screams in his head. That was Jungkook’s usual idea of a fun job and it was enough to make his stomach feel hard and tight. Nervous anticipation rather than fear this time around.

“A special job,” Jungkook said as he lowered his head. “Special and pleasurable.” The way that he softly nuzzled his face against his hair sent a shiver down his spine and Taehyung shifted in his chair. “Another way you can show me your talents.” He knew exactly what he was hinting at and Taehyung shifted in his chair slightly as he eyed the monitor screen. Jungkook was playing coy with him now because he seemed to want to play games but it was obvious what he really wanted.

“…OK,” Taehyung said as he felt the other man’s breath against his hair. “OK, I’ll show you my talents, Jungkook.”

The first thing that he noticed when he was escorted upstairs was the fact that Jimin wasn’t present in the penthouse suite. Usually upon entering he was in clear sight, lying on the ground-floor bed or sitting on the chaise lounge; reading, on his phone or playing with Wangbi. Sometimes he was in the apartment block gym or somewhere else in the suite, always appearing at some point during his visit to smile and brighten up the atmosphere. He couldn’t see him this evening however and that was a little strange. Jimin was always present in the evenings for he was either working or relaxing. Taehyung had been present and working himself several times that Jimin had, no longer fazed by what was happening in the bedroom across the suite. After all he would usually get to enjoy his own performance not long after, one without a script and acting. So he remarked upon Jimin’s absence as Jungkook steered him in the direction of the ground-floor bedroom.

Though he had glanced inside enough times he had never actually stepped inside the room before. He saw that not far from the bed and rigged cameras there was a desk and chair, a massive computer monitor situated on top of it. It clearly controlled the cameras and the stream for the website. On the far right of the room was a slide-glass wardrobe, which likely contained clothes and toys for the films, and a dresser. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a low table close to the door with three seat cushions.

“I sent Jimin away for the weekend, a spa visitation,” Jungkook explained as he gestured for him to sit at the low table. He didn’t need to ask why there was a table because it was pretty obvious. It was there for watching. Taehyung sat down and the younger man started unbuttoning his jacket. “I think that he deserved the weekend off, he works so hard for me. It seemed like a fitting reward, a break of his own.”

“Doesn’t Jimin work tonight?” Taehyung asked as he watched him place the jacket on the back of the desk chair. “What’re you going to do about the livefeed, Jungkook?”

“I want you to do a livestream tonight, Taehyung.” Jungkook turned his head to look at him as he starting adjusting one of the cameras. “A special livestream, that’s your job.” He asked him what he meant by that as he watched him moving the piece of equipment, angling it down to show more of the mattress. The camera was rather high, would give an overhead view that Taehyung had come to associate as blowjob angles. Taehyung could feel a strange bubbling in the pit of his stomach at the thought. A livestream? Jungkook wanted him in a film and that was strangely exciting and also frightening.

“Look at the camera,” Jungkook explained, artfully avoiding his question. “Look right at the camera, maintain eye-contact. The men- and maybe women, on the other side of the screen. They want to look at you, Taehyung. They want to pretend they’re fucking you but they can’t. I’m fucking you.” Taehyung held his gaze for a moment before glancing over at the bed. Of course that was what was going to happen. There were no actors present or Jimin so it made perfect sense that Jungkook would be his partner. Had Jungkook done something like this before?

“Jungkook, why isn’t Jimin doing this?”

“There have been demands for certain…content to be involved in the streams for some time now. Jimin fulfills what he can but some are not to his taste.”

“What kinda demands?” Was he going to ignore this question just like the rest? Unsurprisingly Jungkook didn’t answer as he moved to go over to the dresser. It seemed that he was asking too many questions for his liking. He pulled the top drawer open and reached inside to collect the cocaine vial and then he was breaking the seal. Taehyung watched him pull the lid free as he hunkered down beside him and poured a small amount out onto the table, placing a rather tired-looking won note down beside the lines.

“Snort it, it will loosen you up a lot more,” Jungkook instructed as he crossed the bedroom area. Taehyung watched him go and then turned back to the lines of cocaine on the table. “Get undressed but keep your shirt on, nothing else. It adds to the effect.”

Taehyung rolled the ₩50,000 won note up that he had handed him and eyed the lines on the table. Everything about this seemed to scream ‘bad idea’ at him and yet he couldn’t seem to say no to him. The younger man was collecting something else from the dresser and when he turned around he saw that it was the gun case. Jungkook carried it over to where he was seated and placed on floor beside his knee. Then he opened the case up and pulled his Beretta free.

“Clients want gunplay,” Jungkook explained as he pressed the magazine release and caught it. “Jimin won’t play with guns even when they’re unloaded. That’s why I need you to star in this livefeed. You play with guns when they’re unloaded and loaded. So you’re going to play with them with me. Just this one time, just to fulfill the demand for business.” He placed the magazine inside the case to let him know that it was most certainly unloaded and not dangerous.

Taehyung eyed the gun for a moment and then he dropped his head and snorted the two lines of cocaine up. Beside him Jungkook was waiting for a reply, gun tight in his hand. He threw his head back and waited for the first few hints of the cocaine to start dripping down his throat and that rush to hit him and take over his senses.

“You will do this for me, yes?”

“Yeah, Jungkook,” he agreed as he rubbed at his nose and sniffed. “I’ll do it.” The wide smile on Jungkook’s face certainly made his agreement worth it. The younger man put the gun down on the table and then he was helping him get undressed. It was hard for Taehyung to pull his zipper down with his twitching fingers but he did manage to pop the other man’s shirt buttons open, fumbling rather stupidly. He had only gotten half of them undone when Jungkook moved his head and kissed him, thus making the task even harder for him.

The first step of preparation for filming was Jungkook tying his wrists together with a piece of smooth white nylon rope. It didn’t rub against his skin roughly and he could move his fingers, secure but not horribly tight. Taehyung didn’t ask why he was doing it and rather just held his tongue. Then Jungkook prepped him for the livestream almost tortuously slow, leaning him over the low table as he did. It wasn’t like their first time, when he had rushed to get inside of him. No, the younger man slipped his fingers inside of him, coated with enough lube to almost have it dribbling down the backs of his thighs. The slow scissoring of his fingers rubbed right up against him and had a wonderful wave of throbs building up in his stomach. Taehyung started hardening from it alone, the fingering and words of encouragement. But as quick as his fingers had opened him up Jungkook was pulling them free to shove a plug inside of him instead.

“For later,” he explained. “Get on the bed. Right on the end in front of the cameras.” Taehyung did as he requested, almost squirming at the pressure the plug caused between his thighs when he sat down on the mattress. He could feel a strange mixture of excitement from the cocaine and his arousal and all of his thoughts about this being a bad idea had simply disappeared. “Taehyung, when the cameras go green we’re live,” Jungkook explained as he moved to stand by the computer. “Remember, look at the cameras. Give them a real show.”

Taehyung nodded as he let his breath out in a sigh. Though he kept his eye on the camera lens he saw the light turn from red to green as Jungkook entered the command. Then he was collecting the Beretta off the table and moving to get closer to the bed.

Jungkook stayed out of view of the main front camera but he lifted his hand to press the gun against his temple, visible on the side of the screen. Taehyung felt it pressing down, cold and hard against his skull. He looked right at the camera and couldn’t help but fidget. Empty or not the gun made him a little uncomfortable. Look into the cameras the younger man had told him, and so he did unblinkingly. It crossed Taehyung’s mind that this likely looked a little like a hostage video, or maybe a terrorist execution video. Was that what the viewers were paying for?

Borderline snuff?

“What did you do?”

Jungkook snagged hold of his hair tightly with his free hand as he pulled back on his head, eliciting a groan of pain from him. Taehyung couldn’t help but roll his fingers up into fists on his lap and his toes even curled up from the sensation. It hurt, but it somehow felt good; that burning in his scalp where his fingers were snagged in tight.

“I wuh-was bad,” Taehyung moaned, looking right at the camera as he did. It wasn’t that hard to do so. Right now he was talking to Jungkook but at the same time he wasn’t. He was talking to whoever the hell was on the other end of the stream. All of those desperate men and maybe even women that were paying out of their asses to see him take it up the ass. It was almost sad in a way, but also very exciting.

“Very bad,” Jungkook agreed as the muzzle continued pressing against his temple. “You know happens to bad boys, don’t you?”

“Yeah-yeah, Master,” Taehyung replied, wetting his lips and not taking his eyes off the camera once. There was no script and yet he knew his lines off by heart. It was strange in a way, but Taehyung had been playing parts for quite some time now. Improvisation came naturally to him now because it was his everyday life. “They get…punished.”

Jungkook kept the gun in place for a moment and then he moved it slowly down the side of his face. Taehyung felt the muzzle like caressing fingers across his skin until it was down by his lips. Only then did he look away and drop his gaze to study the gun. The barrel looked massive to his eyes and he pouted his lips out to press his mouth against it. Taehyung planted several slow and hard kisses against the steel and then he sucked his lips around the gun, tasting the grease on his tongue as he ran it along the bottom of the barrel. It was hard in his mouth the way that a cock would be, except it was also incredibly cold. Cold enough to make him moan in surprise.

Jungkook’s fingers were still in his hair and he felt them tightening as he slowly swallowed more of the barrel. A quick glance up from the gun at his face showed that he was watching him intently. Taehyung shifted his eyes over to the front camera, the one angled perfectly to record him. Strangely enough it wasn’t that difficult to look at it now. He bobbed back on the gun, tongue licking along the bottom as he did. Jungkook pulled it free from his lips roughly and then pressed the muzzle against his forehead. Taehyung closed his eyes and let out a little moan for effect.

“I need to punish you,” Jungkook said, and his fingers once again clenched on his lap. “How am I going to punish you?”

“Fuh-fuck me.”

“How?”

“Fuck me…raw, teach me a lesson.”

There was a crisp tearing sound and Taehyung realised that it was his shirt being pulled on. The collar had just been wrenched hard and as a result the material had torn clean through. Jungkook had tugged so hard that he felt the buttons digging into his skin before one popped free. Well, it was a good thing he was wearing one of his cheap shirts instead of the tailored ones he supposed. He was dragged back onto the bed and forced onto his stomach so that he had to balance his weight on his elbows. He couldn’t even grab onto the bed sheets. Jungkook was forcing him into a new position, hands maneuvering his hips up so he was on his knees. Taehyung eyed the bed for a few seconds before looking up at the closest camera. That was when he felt him pulling the plug free.

The feeling of his head nudging against him was enough to have Taehyung almost shivering in anticipation. When Jungkook finally slipped inside of him he couldn’t help but drop his head, swallowing a series of gasps as he did. There wasn’t much teasing, much shallow thrusts as Jungkook let him get used to the sensation of his cock stretching him open. He just slipped his length inside and started fucking him. Taehyung knew that it would be best to act for the cameras and yet the noises that escaped his mouth weren’t forced at all. He couldn’t help but whimper even when he bit down on his lip and tried to stop himself, teeth snagging down on his swollen lower lip.

The press of the muzzle of the gun at the base of his skull was hard. The fact the gun was pressed there should have scared him yet it was just like earlier. Almost exciting. Jungkook’s other hand was tight on his hip, allowing him to hold him in place as he thrust into him.

“I’ll be guh-good,” Taehyung managed to stutter out, finding it incredibly difficult to do so. Jungkook was pounding into him so hard that he nearly bit his tongue trying to speak. “I’ll be so good.” He wanted to grab hold of the bed sheets for better purchase but he couldn’t. His wrists were tied up and he could only clench his fingers into fists. “Take care of me,” Taehyung gasped, still trapped somewhere between actor-mode and reality. “Touch me, please.”

“Only good boys get touched,” Jungkook groaned, hips not once relenting their incessant collision with his ass. Taehyung could feel his thighs trembling and he couldn’t take much more of this. Between the friction of his cock and the flashing lights of the camera he was already starting to feel his climax rapidly approaching.

“I’m ah-a good boy,” he whined. If Taehyung had had any dignity left since joining Haedogje Pa then that was the last of it dying. But did dignity really matter when he felt Jungkook pulling out of him and seizing hold of his waist to flip him over? The Beretta was being shoved right back between his mouth and he felt the weight pressing down on his tongue as Jungkook slipped back inside of him. The sudden stretch made him grunt around the barrel and it took just a few thrusts until the younger man was back to that hard and fast rhythm. Jungkook didn’t touch him but the new angle meant that he could reach down and do so with his bound wrists. It wasn’t easy but he could at least rub at the head of his cock with his thumb.

He was already wet, beaded precum sliding around under the press of his thumb so wonderfully. Whether it was from being fucked or Jungkook’s praises he didn’t even know at this point.

Taehyung tried his hardest to carry on playing with the gun, lips tight around the barrel as Jungkook pushed and pulled it to stimulate fellatio. But it was hard to continue doing it when he couldn’t cry out around it. He was left making a series of deep noises, groans at the back of his throat that occasionally slipped out as grunts. Taehyung wanted to tell Jungkook just how amazing he was at fucking him but he couldn’t. He wanted to say something to get the younger man to praise him again, anything, but the only thing he could do was lift his hips up and thump them against him.

“Shit,” Jungkook sucked his lower lip between his teeth, biting down hard on it as he did. That wasn’t praise, wasn’t even close. Taehyung did it again, even when the angle was hard and it made his stomach muscles clench tight to do so. “You fuck like a bad boy.” No not bad, he was good . Taehyung could have rolled his eyes in annoyance but then he added. “You’re so good at taking my cock.”

There it was, just like he had been anticipating. His words were enough to push him over the edge and Taehyung could feel his climax taking over. He released the gun with a breathy moan, drooling all down his chin as he did. Jungkook was still thrusting into him, the friction creating deep throbs of pleasure as his orgasm flooded his body; up into his brain and down to his very toes. He couldn’t help but clench, muscles in his thighs quivering at the intensity as he ejaculated. Yet as fast as his climax hit him came the discomfort. Just like his first time with Jungkook, after the intense waves of pleasure came the rather uncomfortable pressure. And that pressure quickly turned into pain.

“Huh-hurts!” Taehyung said, gun barrel still pressed against his mouth making it hard for him to speak. He could feel the hardness of the steel almost wanting to press through his skin to his teeth. “It hurts.”

“I’ll make the pain stop,” Jungkook almost grunted at him, “if you promise to be a good boy.” Taehyung could feel tears of pain welling between his tightly squeezed eyelids. Shit the pressure was too much, he couldn’t put up with much more thrusting. If it wasn’t tears he would certainly start shouting in pain. Did Jungkook even know how much it hurt?

“Ah-ah-I’ll be good, I’ll-” Taehyung moved his head to snag the barrel back in his mouth, using it so that he could bite down. His teeth met unyielding steel and the barrel barely managed to mute his pained moans. He heard the crisp click of the trigger being pulled and that was when Jungkook’s orgasm hit him. His hips almost snapped against him and Taehyung stayed still and waited for him to ride his pleasure out. When he finally pulled out he could have cried in relief, blinked away quite a few welled up tears.

Jungkook removed the gun from his mouth and placed it down on the mattress. Then he was getting off the bed to move over to the computer by the bed. Taehyung just stared up at the ceiling mirror, aware that the cameras were still on him the entire time. From across the bedroom came the sound of buttons being hit, clicking away until the feed was switched off. Only then did he lower his legs back down onto the bed. The movement made him aware of the wetness between his thighs and when he looked down he saw that his stomach was also covered in semen. After shutting the feed down Jungkook moved back over to the bed.

“Good. You were so good, Taehyung.” He felt the bed shifting as Jungkook moved to climb back on it fully. Then he reached over to start unknotting the restraints around his wrists. “One of the best actors I’ve seen.”

“Tuh…...thank you, Jungkook,” Taehyung said in a soft voice. If only the younger man the true extent of his acting abilities. The rope came free with a series of tugs and was then tossed aside without a care.

“The pain was part of the film,” Jungkook explained as he shifted to lie down beside him, hand going from his wrists to his hair. “It wasn’t punishment. I told you, you were good, Taehyung. I would never punish you for being good.” It sounded like a lie to his ears but he didn’t question it. He moved his face until his mouth was against his throat. This was the first time that Jungkook had provided something close to comfort after fucking him. It was so strange that Taehyung didn’t really know what to feel. But he knew that he greatly enjoyed the way his fingers stroked through his hair and the gentle press of his lips against his neck.

“I know, Jungkook, I know you wouldn’t.”

“You’re so good,” Jungkook repeated as he nuzzled against his neck. “There’s nothing you can’t do, Taehyung. You’re special, very special.”

It could have been several minutes that they spent lying on the bed in a loose tangle of limbs, or as long as an hour. Taehyung just closed his eyes for the duration and felt the other man’s breath on his skin, the warmth of his body against his. He felt rather drained from it all but not tired. The cocaine was stopping him from feeling close to tired. Even though the cameras weren’t turned on he could feel the weight of the lenses on him. Then Jungkook was freeing himself to collect the gun from across the mattress. He held it up and studied it silently and Taehyung watched him do so without speaking.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to play with guns but I can’t. Not with Jimin, with him being so scared. But I know you’re not.” Jungkook smirked at him, eyes sliding over to look at the rigged cameras for a moment. “Taehyung. I want you to play with me. Without the cameras.”

“Play with you how?” Taehyung shifted to roll onto his side and look at him better, head balanced on one folded up arm.

“I want you to fuck me with the gun,” Jungkook said, not even a slight stutter or hesitation as he said this. There was even a smile on his face. Taehyung stared at him in complete disbelief and it just made his smile widen into a rather mischievous grin.

“Jungkook, I dunno, that sounds-” Taehyung paused and tried to figure his thoughts out. Of course it sounded obscene first and foremost, exactly why Jungkook had suggested it. Hadn’t he just let the younger man fuck him in front of countless cameras? Wasn’t that much more obscene all things considered? People had watched that, but they wouldn’t watch this. Did it really matter how obscene it was?

“Taehyung, I want you to fuck me with the gun. You can fuck me as a reward,” Jungkook said, not an order but bordering very close. “I have my fun, you have yours. That’s fair, yes?” It was fair, he had made a great point. “I’ve never done something like this before but I’ve wanted to for so long. Taehyung, you will be the first man to do this to me.”

It was like taking his virginity, except with several inches of cold steel.

“…OK,” he said as he accepted the gun. “I’ll do it.”

Taehyung couldn’t slip the gun inside first because he was much too tight for that. He had to ease him into it by sliding his lube coated fingers in first, slowly stretching him open just like how he had prepped him for the livefeed. Jungkook instinctively tightened around both his fingers, the walls of his muscles pressing and squeezing. He slipped right into him, up to the knuckles. A quick glance up at Jungkook showed that he had closed his eyes, and when he started moving them back and forth and scissoring them his eyelids fluttered. Three fingers wasn’t enough for the gun but he couldn’t seem to get him to open further. He even rolled him over and lifted his hips off the bed, trying to get the perfect angle but it was the best that he could do.

“This is gonna hurt,” Taehyung said as he carried on fingering him. Jungkook twisted to look back at him and he held his gaze with a rather determined expression.

“Good.”

Taehyung slipped his fingers free and he positioned the Beretta perfectly, pressing the muzzle against his entrance. The lube and stretch of his fingers helped him nudge it against his ring of muscles until the first inch of metal slid right inside him.

“Ah ah ah,” Jungkook made a breathless noise and he saw his fingers snagging hold of the sheets. “It’s cold.” Taehyung kept the gun in place for a few seconds, let him adjust to the shape and thickness of the barrel. He reached down to place his palm on one of his buttocks, kneading and stroking him. Then he nudged the gun forward another inch or so, getting it in deeper so he could simulate thrusts.

“Good,” Taehyung said as he patted his ass. “You’re taking it so good, you were made for this gun.”

“I know, I nuh...know that’s why I bought it,” Jungkook said in an uneven voice, letting out a few whimpers when Taehyung started moving the gun back and forth inside of him. “I saw it and just knew that it was for me. Shit, Taehyung,” Jungkook groaned as he dropped his head. “It feels so good.” Taehyung asked him what it felt like, fingers dimpling his buttock as he pulled the gun back. “I feel full, cuh-complete like there was something missing.” He pushed the barrel back into him again and felt him clenching around it, muscles shifting under his skin. “But you’re filling it up.”

“I’ll fill you up even more.” Taehyung pressed the Beretta forward again, more of the length sinking inside of him. There wasn’t much length left of the barrel. “I could fill you better than this gun.”

“Are you as hard as the gun?” Jungkook asked, amusement audible in his voice. Taehyung shifted to press himself against Jungkook, erection digging into the back of his thigh. “Pull the trigger.”

When Taehyung pulled the trigger there was a crisp clicking sound, that of the hammer springing forward and nothing firing because the chamber was empty. But the sound and vibration alone was enough to make Jungkook’s thighs shudder and he spilled forward onto the mattress rather messily. Taehyung almost lost his grip on the gun when his hips dropped and bounced off the bed, but he managed to keep hold.

“Again, Taehyung, do…do it again,” Jungkook begged him, face pressed against the pillow so that his voice was muffled. But he could hear the wanting in it, the pleading. “I’ve been such a slut, punish me.”

Taehyung let go of the Beretta and flipped him onto his back. Jungkook sprawled out for him, desperate for pleasure and almost shaking in anticipation. He could see how his thighs quivered as he got into position for him. Jungkook was presenting himself to him, hips lifted up off the bed and thighs splayed wide open. The gun was still inside of him, held in place by the tight clench of his muscles. Taehyung could see how he was stretched around the barrel, flushed, and the sight of his cock twitching against his stomach was mesmerising.

“Shit, you really do look like a slut,” Taehyung remarked as he dropped his eyes to study the Beretta more intently. The gun barrel was slick with lube, some of it dribbling down onto the well so taking hold of it was hard. He wrapped his fingers around the gun and once again slipped it out and then pushed it in, hearing Jungkook breathing unevenly as he did. “You should be on camera too.”

Another dry click. Jungkook’s fingers dug into the mattress deeply, dimpling the silken covers as he threw his head back against the pillows. He was practically dribbling all over his stomach now, so close to climaxing but trying to force it down. The sight of his steadily leaking semen spilling down his side to get onto the bed sheets, caused a hard throb in the pit of Taehyung’s stomach. What a waste. So he grabbed hold of his cock and he angled it so that he could take him in his mouth. He slipped the gun out slightly and then pushed it back forward as he went down on him.

The noises coming out of Jungkook’s slack lips were like music to his ears. Those breathy little gasps and hiccuping moans. Taehyung didn’t pull the trigger again but rather fucked into him with the barrel of the gun, slipping it in as far as he could go until the trigger guard got in the way and stopped him. He simulated long and slow thrusts as he went back up to his head, sucking and licking his precum free. Then when he went down on him and bobbed his head he fucked him fast and hard, feeling the thump of the trigger guard hitting his ass.

“Shit I’m cuh...pull it again. Pull it I’m cuming.”

When he pulled the trigger one last time it threw Jungkook right over the edge. He orgasmed with a deep moan and Taehyung felt him ejaculating into his mouth. The juxtaposition of the gun firing empty and the hot spurts of cum spilling down his throat was not lost on Taehyung. He slowly pulled back to his head and massaged his length as he rode through his orgasm and then he released him. Taehyung had to reach up and wipe at his lips with his free hand as he pulled the gun out of him. Jungkook had clenched around it and so pulling it out took some effort. It slipped free with a series of liquid sounds and he saw that the barrel was covered in lube.

It was going to need a lot of cleaning.

The sight of his quivering entrance was too much and Taehyung grabbed hold of his thighs and he forced them open, almost pinned them to the bed as he got between them. After a series of experimental prods he felt his head brushing against his entrance so he took himself in hand and guided his cock until he was slipping inside of him. Jungkook took a sharp intake of breath at this and turned his head to look at him. Because of the gun he was still stretched open, allowing him to slid some of his length inside. The lube from the gun was still ample and wet and Jungkook felt absolutely perfect. Better than Jimin had.

“Ah,” Jungkook reached down to grab at his forearms, grip tight. Taehyung’s own fingers were digging into the soft skin of his thighs. He pulled out to his head and then thrust forward again, slipping back inside. “Taehyung, that burns.”

“‘Cos you’re so tight, loosen up.”

“I was loose, you’re buh-bigger than the gun- ah!” When Taehyung started lightly thrusting into him he made a series of rather weak whines. He sounded just like an actor out of one of the shitty pornos he had stumbled across in the past, the ones that had whined and whimpered for the entire video.

“When was the last time you had someone inside you?” Taehyung asked, seeing how Jungkook’s lips quivered from the burn of every thrust. He mumbled something under his breath, about how he couldn’t remember. The curves of his fingernails dug into his forearms, leaving scratches in their wake. “Do you want me to stop?”

“Nuh-no, no I want it. I want you to fuck me,” Jungkook said breathlessly, turning his face away from him so that his hair fanned out on the pillow. Taehyung could see that he was looking up at the ceiling mirror, watching him fucking into him intently. “I want it to hurt.”

“You want me to fuck you?” Taehyung teased as he found a good rhythm. It was shallow but quick and at the end of each thrust Jungkook’s ass thumped off the mattress, the springs creaking under the sound of their skin slapping together. “How much have you wanted my cock?”

“I wanted it,” Jungkook groaned, head still rolled back so that he could see his tendons moving under his skin. “I wanted it so bad. The fuh-first time I saw you I wuh-wanted your cock. Fuck.” He let out a series of breathless whines and Taehyung slowed his rhythm down to slower, more measured rolls of his hips. “I’m such a fucking slut.”

“You’ve been thinking about me fucking you all this time?”

“I couldn’t stop thinking,” Jungkook gasped as his fingers moved from his biceps to his back. “Give it to me. I want all of it, Taehyung. I want you to fuh…fuck me so good I can’t walk.”

“Roll over, slut, let me really fuck you.” Jungkook rolled onto his stomach, breath hitching as he did. He balanced his weight on his elbows and lifted his ass for him, thighs open wide. So Taehyung seized hold of his hips and he slipped inside of him to start thrusting again.

“Yes,” Jungkook moaned as he rocked against him. “Taehyung, you feel better than the gun. So much better and- ah ah Taehyung !” Taehyung shifted position to get a better angle, balancing his weight on one wrist as he reached around to cover Jungkook’s mouth with his other hand.

“You’re too noisy, slut,” Taehyung remarked as his fingers brushed along his lips. “If Jimin was here he could help fix that problem. He could’ve gagged you with his cock. How’s that for being fucked?”

Jungkook let him push his fingers into his mouth and he felt his teeth pressing down into his skin. Tongue wet, licking along his fingers. It wasn’t a cock but it seemed to be enough for Jungkook. He sucked on his fingers and Taehyung felt him lifting his ass up, trying to rock against him. When he slammed against his ass hard to knock him back down Jungkook moaned throatily around his fingers. Taehyung tried to pull his fingers free but the other man chased after them, trying to swallow them again. There was a string of spittle from his fingers to his lips and it broke as he pulled his hand away.

Taehyung forced his hips down onto the bed with his own and he reached over to grab his wrists and pin them against the mattress. He had his hips trapped in place from his weight and he was in so deep that he was grinding against his ass. Jungkook started crying out breathlessly again, squirming under him as his cock brushed against the sheets. There was going to be a wet patch all over the sheets by the time he was finished. Taehyung couldn’t help but moan himself, especially every time his hips thumped into him. The impact made jolts of pleasure course through him and he couldn’t seem to thrust hard or fast enough.

“I don’t like your tattoo,” Taehyung groaned as he pressed his mouth against the side of his head. “It makes you look like a cheap slut.”

“Cheap?” Jungkook let out a series of broken moans as he tried to speak. “Fuh-fuck you, I’m an eh…expensive slut.”

“It looks like your daddy branded you,” Taehyung said, feeling the younger man shuddering under him. “You’re such a good little…Haedogje Pa slut. Your daddy must be so proud.”

“Daddy wuh-would kill you for this,” Jungkook whined as he clawed at the sheets. “He would be so muh…mad at me. Fuck me harder, Taehyung.”

Taehyung couldn’t really do that, he was starting to lose control and he couldn’t hold on much longer. He could already feel his muscles starting to shake, the pressure coiling up in his stomach getting too strong. He let go of one of his wrists instead and snagged hold of his hair to wrench on it hard. At the end of each thrust he tugged, hard enough to have Jungkook crying out in mingled pain and pleasure until he was climaxing and ejaculating all over the sheets. He didn’t orgasm with a deep groan of pleasure like usual but rather a breathy series of moans, body shuddering from the intensity of it all.

Taehyung felt his own climax chasing after him and pulled out just in time. With a few hard pumps of his wrist a spurt of cum leaked out. Taehyung watched it splash down onto Jungkook’s lower back as he buried himself back inside. With several last bucking thrusts he milked himself into Jungkook, hips stuttering as he collapsed on top of him. The explosions of heat in his stomach left him breathless and his orgasm was strong enough to leave him shaking. For several seconds he couldn’t even move, eyes closed as starbursts burnt into his eyelids in sync was his racing pulse. Then the waves of pleasure started to ebb, no longer overwhelming. He took a few quick intakes of breath and shifted slightly.

Taehyung could feel the cum on the other man’s lower back now smeared all over his stomach. When he pulled out he saw even more messily dribbling down Jungkook’s inner thighs to land on the sheets. The other man was lying still on the mattress, back rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath. There was a slick layer of sweat all over his skin and only when Taehyung saw a drop of sweat splashing down onto his back did he realised that he was coated in sweat too.

“Taehyung…did you just cum on my tattoo?”

“…Yeah, Jungkook,” he replied as he stared at the sight of his semen on his skin. It had obscured some of the lotus, the thinly smeared liquid covering most of the petals but not all of it. The other man asked him why and he thought it over for a minute. “‘Cos I wanted to cover it up.”

“All high-ranking men of Haedogje Pa have the tattoo, Taehyung,” Jungkook explained. “You’ll have it too, soon enough. Wipe it off, with your fingers.” So he reached down and wiped at the liquid until most of it was on his fingers and palm. Jungkook shifted to roll over and then propped himself up onto his elbows. The younger man licked his fingers like a cat would, cleaning them free before lying back down on the bed. His head thumped off the pillow and he sighed as he closed his eyes. “Shit…”

Taehyung moved to lean over the bed and collect his suit trousers. He was craving a cigarette badly and he pulled the packet free and thumbed it open to pull a stick out with his teeth. He felt the younger man’s gaze on him as he did, watching him intently.

“Fuck detoxes, give me a cigarette,” Jungkook muttered, and so he pulled another stick free and reached over to put it between his lips for him. “Daddy told me to…to never turn my back on another man,” Jungkook said as he took several deep breaths. Taehyung flicked the lighter open to light the end of his cigarette and then he held it against the end of the younger man’s stick. “I think he meant in case he stabbed me in the back. He might just have meant in case he stabbed me with his cock.” Jungkook took a deep drag and held it in his lungs before breathing it out his nostrils. “Both seem to apply to me.”

“How come you don’t let Jimin fuck you?” Taehyung asked, slipping the cigarette free and holding it securely between his thumb and fingers.

“Oh, Taehyung,” Jungkook breathed more smoke out in a weary sigh and he wet his lips. “Jimin might be mine but that doesn’t mean he can fuck me.” Taehyung inhaled, tasting their mingled smoke as he did. “He’s below me and that’s not a bad thing. Jimin knows that fact.” He could only stare at him, head propped up one hand and elbow sunken into the mountain of pillows, the other holding his cigarette in front of his lips. “He doesn’t fuck me, that’s the one part of me he’s not allowed. But he has everything else. My penthouse, my devotion, but mostly my credit card. Jimin needs a caregiver, he craves attention and care. I give him everything he wants and needs.”

Taehyung noted that Jungkook didn’t say the word ‘love’ explicitly. But listening to him talk about Jimin there was still almost a sense that he was talking about it.

“Do you crave attention and care?”

“I crave…control,” Jungkook explained slowly. “I like controlling things but also…I crave the idea of being vulnerable that’s why only men that would kill me can fuck me. That makes it a lot more exciting, don’t you think?”

“You think I would kill you?” Taehyung asked in confusion, unable to keep the surprise off his face.

“I know that you can kill,” the younger man shifted to place an arm against his shoulder and then he was shoving him down against the mattress. Taehyung felt his head bouncing off the mountain of pillows and then Jungkook was straddling him, sitting on his stomach and hunkered forward with his hands either side of his head. “It excites me.” Taehyung reached up to run his hands along his outer thighs and he felt him tightening them around his waist. His muscles shifting under his skin wonderfully. “A man that can kill will kill, when he has to.”

“I wouldn’t kill you, Jungkook,” Taehyung said with a soft head shake. “You’re my master.” Jungkook pulled his cigarette free and he breathed a lungful of smoke out before dabbing the ash off into his stomach. There was an instant prickling sensation on his skin and Taehyung hissed and reached down to brush it free.

“If I told you to kill someone, would you?” When he nodded Jungkook stared down at him, gaze as burning hot as the cigarette. “Unconditionally? What if I told you to kill Jimin. Would you?”

“…Yeah, Jungkook,” Taehyung said in a soft voice. His stomach felt strangely tight and cold at the thought and yet the agreement spilled out of his mouth regardless.

“Don’t worry, I would never ask you to do that. I would kill Jimin myself if I had to, he deserves a personal death. I would kill you with my own hands too.” Jungkook stayed in place for a moment, still straddling his stomach as he took another drag on the cigarette. “I would strangle Jimin.” Taehyung held his gaze unblinkingly. “It seems fitting, intimate. It wouldn’t hurt that bad I imagine, it would be terrifying though. If I drugged him first I guess he wouldn’t really fight back. But for you…” Jungkook reached down to run his palm along his ribs slowly. “I would gut you like a fucking fish.”

The younger man moved to lie back down on the mattress. He didn’t explain why like he had with Jimin, just rather let his words hang in the air. Taehyung looked up at the ceiling mirror and in his head he thought about what exactly that meant. Violent, forceful. Of course Jungkook would want to slice him open and pull his viscera out with his own hands whilst he was still alive and screaming. He expected nothing less from him.

“Jungkook, why’d you like watching?” Taehyung asked him as he dabbed an inch of ash off his stick onto the other man’s stomach just like he had done to him. His stomach clenched and he brushed it away without much care. “Fucking, why’d you like watching so much?”

“Don’t you like watching?”

“Yeah, but I mean I’d rather be taking part. Jimin said that you like watching and I just thought it was interesting.”

“It’s pretty simple, Taehyung,” Jungkook held his cigarette up in front of his mouth, lips slightly parted in preparation for a drag. “When I watch I can be whoever I want. I can be the fucker, I can be the fucked. I can imagine how tight and hot he is around my cock, or I can wonder about what it’s like to have him grabbing onto my hips and pounding into me until I can’t breathe.” Jungkook took a deep drag on the cigarette and breathed the smoke out in a sigh. “I can be either one or both at the same time. I find that pretty…..interesting.”

“Could you breathe when I was inside you?” Taehyung asked, wetting his lips.

“I saw fucking stars,” Jungkook purred as he turned his head to look at him. “Shit Taehyung, you fucked me so good .” Taehyung couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride at this. “I’m going to have so many bruises.” The younger man sounded pleased by this fact, pleased in a way that he didn’t really understand. But Taehyung was starting to, slowly. He was starting to understand a lot of things. Like how having a gun shoved between his teeth was strangely exciting.

“Is it that way with torture too? And murder?” Taehyung stubbed his cigarette out on the metal headboard railing, tossing the butt aside without a care. “When you watch it, do you think about being the killer and the victim too?”

“Mmm,” Jungkook looked at the end of his cigarette. There was an inch of ash on the end that he should dab free but he didn’t. He just eyed it with great interest. “I wonder what it must be like, to be tied up to a chair and know that death is coming. Those last few seconds of life. What must that feel like? What do you think?”

“I dunno, I’ve never thought about such things,” Taehyung replied in a quiet voice. “Before belonging to you I didn’t really get close to death.”

“Are you still scared of it?” Jungkook asked as he turned his head to look at him. He held his gaze confidently, not even a slight hint of embarrassment on his face. “Or are you starting to see the pleasure in it too?”

“I’m still scared of dying but…but killing is different. I don’t like killing men for you but I realised that there’s-” Taehyung paused as he tried to sort his words out. He noted that Jungkook waited patiently, enraptured enough to want to hear more. “I get so scared but killing someone for you gives me control over that fear. Y’know? The second that I pull that trigger then the fear disappears. It’s not pleasure, it’s peace.”

“You crave peace,” Jungkook repeated, and so he nodded lazily in agreement. “You know what I think those men think, in their last seconds? Right before death?” He paused and then finished. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“I think that they think nothing at all; sheer terror takes over and leaves them blank. They don’t think about loved ones, their life doesn’t flash in front of their eyes. Their minds just go fucking blank. Utter blackness. Almost something close to peace.” Jungkook took another drag on the cigarette and breathed it out his nose. “You come into the world empty and black, and you leave the world the exact same way.”

“Maybe some people think about God?” Taehyung asked, not entirely certain. “Beg for forgiveness from ‘em? See light instead of sheer blackness?”

“There’s no such thing as ‘God’,” Jungkook remarked as he shifted on the bed. He reached over with one hand to place it on the pillow beside his head and leaned over him. Taehyung held his gaze, his shadow falling over his face. “Don’t you think I’m proof of that?”

“Maybe you’re proof the Devil is real,” Taehyung said in a soft voice. This made Jungkook grin at him as he lifted his other hand and took a drag off the cigarette. “Absolute evil.”

“Or maybe…maybe I’m God,” Jungkook breathed the smoke out, lips pouted as he did. “Omnipresent, omnibenevolent, omnipotent. I’m all of those things and more. But, you know something, Taehyung? I’m only able to be those things because of you. You’re my eyes, my ears, my hand of judgement. Before me daddy had Kim, and now I have my own Kim too. But you’re more efficient than that old man ever was. Fucking Jinwoo could never reach your level, he’s weak. He only believes in necessary extermination - righteous death, but not you, Taehyung. You understand the true meaning behind murder. There is none, it’s all the fucking same.”

“No such thing as honour.”

“You’re above him, better than him,” Jungkook remarked. “Daddy wanted me to have him but I’m so fucking glad that I found you. I can build an empire with a man like you, Taehyung.”

“Thank…thank you, Jungkook,” Taehyung replied. There was a strange feeling trapped below his ribs at this. Something between excitement and anxiety, that made him feel a little breathless. Build an empire? With him?

“You make me a God, Taehyung,” Jungkook said in the most softest voice. “I thought it was the other way around but it’s not. You’re my becoming. I could never have reached full potential without you, and with you I’m going to reach so fucking high no one can touch me.”

“You’re the only God I would believe in,” Taehyung said as he watched him take another drag off the cigarette. Jungkook held the smoke in his lungs for quite some time and then he moved suddenly, catching him by surprise. The cigarette stick moved down south to his inner thigh and Taehyung realised what he was doing much too late.

Jungkook clamped his mouth over his to mute his pained cries, breathing the smoke into him as he ground the cigarette down hard against his skin. Then he tossed the butt aside and broke the kiss. Taehyung wheezed and tried to not choke on the smoke. There was a hideous throbbing pain on his inner thigh from where he had stubbed the cigarette out. A throbbing and prickling pain. He asked him why he had done that, voice close to a whine as he did.

“I branded you,” Jungkook remarked as he reached down to brush the ash free from the burn. There was already a welt appearing on his skin. “You’re my own little Haedogje Pa slut, and…” he moved his face to press his lips against his ear, breath warm as it ruffled his hair, “Daddy’s so proud of you.”

The sight of Hoseok strolling into the department office in the morning was one that both shocked and confused Namjoon. His teammate should have still been resting in either hospital or at home for at least another two days. Yet he walked in shortly before his work-shift was set to start and for a moment Namjoon could only stare at him unblinkingly. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask but was incapable of doing so. It seemed that he was going to be shocked to the point of being speechless more often than not these days, a new aspect of the job. Namjoon didn’t really know how to feel about that.

Too much shock was bad for the heart and mind.

Namjoon wondered how Taehyung’s heart was feeling these days? Was it always going too fast and making him sweat? Did he often feel like he might just drop dead from a heart attack, or did he really not feel anything like that any more? Was it even beating at this point? As for his mind well…that was something that he really didn’t want to think about.

It was drawing close to lunch when he decided to take a momentary break to talk to his teammate. Namjoon couldn’t just sit there and stare at him every now and again to make sure he was alright, that he wasn’t in pain or anything like that. To his merit Hoseok looked pretty damn well. Maybe more tired that usually but nothing more like that. Not at all like he had been through something as traumatic as being stabbed three times in the stomach. Shallow wounds meant little to him. He thought that Hoseok needed more than a few days off in his opinion and he was going to tell him so. In fact he pushed his desk chair out and crossed the department to go right over to him.

“You know you shouldn’t be here, brother,” Namjoon remarked as he shifted to sit on the edge of his desk. “I know you might not believe me but you were stabbed just a couple of days ago.”

“It’s only stitches, Namjoon,” Hoseok retorted as he turned away from his computer screen. “It’s not like I’m hooked up to a life support machine. Desk work is nothing, I can sit here for eight hours no sweat.” He shrugged to emphasise this point, barely even wincing at the movement.

“You should at least be at home recovering,” he argued. “Never mind taking it easy, you shouldn’t be working at all, Hoseok. I’m serious. It’s not just about the stitches or whatever, you needed a mental rest. Yeah?”

“Look,” Hoseok shifted in his chair so that he could lean closer to him. “I was about to go stir-fucking-crazy in that hospital. All I could smell was bleach, piss and death. I don’t need a break, physical or mental. I need to keep working for the team. Here is the best place I can stay on top of things, yeah?” Namjoon held his gaze for a few seconds and he watched the other man glance over the department. “I can’t track everything as well as I want in my apartment resting my mind. Here I can, desk work suits me fine and it’s also a great cover for the operation. Anything happens and I know about it, I’m still on top.”

“I would have updated you right away,” Namjoon said in a quiet voice. “You’re an important team member and you wouldn’t have been left out of the loop.”

“I prefer being on top myself and not slowing anyone else down.” Hoseok was still sitting forward in his chair and he clearly wanted to keep talking to him, talking lowly to not be overheard by Daesu who was sitting across the room at his own desk working away on his computer. “Any updates on Tae?”

“He’s been spotted a few times since your attack but that’s it, I don’t have anything concrete just yet,” Namjoon explained. “Usually he’s in the company of The Boy, but once he was seen on his own and another time he was spotted with a young man. One I’ve never seen before.”

“Oh yeah?” Namjoon held a hand up to him, gesturing to wait for a moment as he got to his feet. He went over to his desk, flipping one of the files open and searching the contents until he found the envelope he was looking for. Then he moved back to the other man’s desk.

“Youngjae got this one a couple of days back, he was off-duty but he saw Taehyung and got a shot. Thank fuck for iPhone camera quality,” Namjoon declared in mock relief as he pulled a copy of the blown-up photograph out and placed it down on the desk.

The focus of the photograph was that of Taehyung and the unknown man, their teammate walking just behind him carrying a great deal of bags in his hands and glancing off slightly to the side. The unknown male was a few feet in front of him, something in hand that looked like a leash. There was no sight of a dog on the photograph for it reached only their hips but he wondered how the hell he had managed to bring a pet inside a department store with him like that. Clearly his status was high enough to allow him such ridiculous privileges. They were dressed to combat the winter cold, both wearing all black and looking like they had just stepped out of a funeral. Taehyung looked so very strange in his suit with that long woolen overcoat on, almost like he was a legitimate member of Haedogje Pa now.

“Whoever he is he was left in Taehyung’s charge. I’ll hazard a guess at him being important, though I’ve never seen him before.”

“You think that he’s a glorified bodyguard or some…” Hoseok paused for a moment and looked up at him. Then he dropped his gaze to the photograph again. “Wait Namjoon, I saw him. I saw him at the funeral, he was with Tae and The Boy. Climbed in and out of the same fucking car as them.”

“So who is he?”

“Not sure but I’ve got a couple of ideas,” Hoseok shifted to fold his elbows on the desk. “He’s The Boy’s own private fuck toy. I don’t think he’s a business partner but he might just be. Remember what was in that file that Tae sent us? The porn empire? What if he’s a partner in running that?”

“Or the main attraction,” Namjoon suggested as he looked down at the photograph. The stranger was certainly handsome enough he supposed. A little small but he didn’t look delicate. Actually looked pretty good next to Taehyung, their differing heights and frames oddly complimentary. “What do we call this new addition?”

“I vote we call him ‘The Bitch’,” Hoseok said as he say back in his chair. “‘Cos that’s what I think he is.”

“Heard that there was a bust going on,” Hoseok reached over to pick up the photograph again, holding it up with very little interest on his face. “Cyber squad think they’ve tracked a porn server. You think it’s The Boy’s or someone else’s?”

“Does it matter if it is? Can’t put out an arrest warrant unless we have solid proof it’s him. He’s not gonna put his name or face up on end credits, right?”

“No, I’m worried that it might look like a snitch had something to do with it.” Hoseok glanced up at him sharply. “Which is pretty fucking far from the truth. Tae gave us nothing more than a scrap of info, nothing traceable or even helpful. Do you think The Boy might think it was a snitch job anyway?”

“…Not sure, there’s got to be countless Haedogje Pa porn servers. Take one down and another reappears. The Boy’s not gonna be stupid enough to use a legit and traceable server. He’ll have a proxy in China or Japan before he goes deep, no way of finding him from that alone.” Namjoon crossed his arms over his chest. “I doubt he’ll make the connections. He’s likely been shut down in the past and had to move around and we just didn’t know about it all. Besides, just because Tae found out about it doesn’t mean he knows the details.”

“Yeah…yeah good point.” His teammate nodded. “Tae was probably just told about it, doesn’t know the address or anything else. Why would he? Not like The Boy needs an assistant, not if that’s what The Bit- I mean Boy Toy is doing.” Hoseok put the photograph down with a heavy sigh. “You said he was seen on his own? When about was this?”

“He was seen leaving in a car on his own, the afternoon of your attack. Couldn’t track him because it was too risky but he left the apartment and didn’t return until near an hour later. He wasn’t with The Boy but I have no doubts he was doing something for him, a job of some kind.”

“He was on his own and he didn’t contact us…” Namjoon shook his head at this statement and Hoseok sucked his lower lip in to start gnawing on it. “That was the perfect opportunity to do so. Why didn’t he contact us?”

“He might not have useful information just yet,” Namjoon suggested, even when it sounded pretty flat to him. A shitty explanation. Taehyung would at least have something he knew that they didn’t but there was a chance that he was trying to collect as much as he could before reporting back. Minimising the risks of being caught as much as he could. Judging from his teammate’s expression he thought that it was a shitty excuse too. Well, it wasn’t like Namjoon could tell him too much from his own experiences. After all he had already told him that it could take months before they could be contacted. “Maybe Taehyung has a plan of his own? He’s smart, he knows what he’s doing. If we try and track him too much we risk his safety so we shouldn’t-”

“Hold the phone guys,” Sungah announced as she stepped into the department office. Her hair was slightly messy, seemingly from fiddling her own fingers, and she was carrying a file in her hand. “I’ve got an important update you need to see.”

“Update about what exactly?” Namjoon asked as he shifted his attention to look at her. Any talking about Taehyung and a possible mutiny were pushed aside at her words. Why bother discussing the possibilities of something happening when the woman had solid evidence in her hands instead? Something they could work with rather than play a game of Twenty Questions for fun.

“About who else; Haedogje Pa of course,” she retorted as she reached up to brush her hair back behind her ear roughly, a poor attempt at fixing it. “Where’s Youngjae?”

“Out on the streets,” Daesu explained from his position in the corner. “He’s working, not just taking an extra long smoke break like usual.”

“OK, OK, Daesu pull up. I’ve got something here you all need to see.” She lifted the file as she said this, alerting them to the fact she was talking about it. As if that wasn’t rather obvious. “Jung, should you even be here?”

“I’ll tell you what I told Namjoon,” Hoseok shifted in his seat. “I’m here to keep an eye on things and it seems that I made the right choice, huh?” Sungah made a noise in agreement at this as she turned her attention back to the file and opened it up. “So what’s going on?”

“Multiple homicides, that’s what,” Sungah explained. “Been tracking the desk since Nam was discovered and I was alerted to the discovery of several men discovered in Incheon just an hour ago, Haedogje Pa men. All dead, looks to be a successful hit job.”

“Like what happened to Nam and Ahn?” Daesu asked, arms folded over his chest and eyes narrowed slightly.

“Nah, Nam was butchered,” Hoseok disagreed. “And Ahn looked to be tortured, they were less hits more…” he paused for a moment as he tried to sort his words out, “entertainment.”

“These dead men certainly weren’t entertainment.” Sungah slipped the photographs out of the file. “Clean kills, no butchering, no signs of physical torture. And no, it doesn’t look to be Jeon either.” She pulled a photograph out the pile and held it up. Namjoon eyed the photograph for a few seconds before she put it down on Hoseok’s desk. Unrecognisable man in a black suit and white shirt, a bib of blood staining most of the white blooming from what looked like a shotgun wound to the chest. “Seeing as the victims were all his men.”

“Maybe they pissed Jeon off?” Daesu suggested as she started spreading photographs across the wood. “It’s certainly his style.” The man was right. There was certainly something cold and clinical about the way these men had been murdered. Bullet holes, punched through chests and heads, guts riddled with wounds. Not The Boy’s style at all; that would have been so much more worse.

“No, no these men were dealing with business from what we can tell. That’s judging from the location, the amount of men present, it’s like a typical Haedogje Pa gathering except they’re all dead,” Sungah explained. “Business matters I’m assuming to be on Jeon’s behalf though I could be wrong. It’s highly unlikely that Jeon would have hits placed on his own men during a transaction for his empire if I’m right. He seems to have lost out on business and lost men.”

“Wait, I know who that is,” Hoseok said as he shifted and grabbed one of the photographs. “Shit, I know him! That’s Jeon’s bookkeeper! The one that’s been guiding The Boy. Woo.” Namjoon studied the photograph he was holding up and he felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. An eddy of danger. “That’s Woo, right?”

“Looks like someone else has decided to step onto the chessboard,” Namjoon said as he reached down to pull the photograph free from his fingers and inspect it more clearly. “And I think I know who it is…”

Chapter Text

Looking at the spread of photographs in front of him, Namjoon felt strangely cold and distant. He knew that he needed to explain himself, to start talking and let the others know what he was thinking about and yet he couldn’t seem to do that. The photographs should have been tacked up on one of the boards across the room, pins placed in the map so that the case could start being developed and connected, but all that he could do right now was stare at Hoseok’s desk; still and silent. It was the photograph of Woo that he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off. This was a man that had been in The Boy’s presence not that long ago, before Taehyung had been brought in to seemingly take his position. What did that mean for Taehyung exactly? Was this a mistake? Had Woo been caught up and murdered in a hit because Jungkook was supposed to have been present at the alleged transaction, with him or on his own? It could very much be a failed attempt on The Boy’s life and there was no denying it right now. None of them had any evidence to prove otherwise, and Namjoon felt that it was the only explanation for the slaughter. That meant that Taehyung could have been one of those bullet-riddled corpses, should have been one of them.

Namjoon could have been looking at photographs of him with more holes in him than a target sheet at a gun range. His torso packed pumped with lead or missing a nice section of his head from taking a blast from a shotgun. That was what scared him, what made him feel a little faint. Namjoon wasn’t stupid, he hadn’t forgotten the fact that Taehyung was in danger but all this time he had not thought of it reaching such a high level. The most obvious danger that Taehyung could have gotten himself into before this discovery had been pissing another Haedogje Pa man off or having his cover blown. But Taehyung was smart and knew his men, wouldn’t have possibly have made such an elementary mistake. But this wasn’t an elementary mistake.

This was a trap, a big fucking trap.

“What do you mean by that?” Sungah asked to break the momentary silence that had fallen on the office. Her voice brought Namjoon out of his thoughts and he dragged his eyes away from the photograph of Woo to look up at her. “Who’s stepping onto the chessboard?”

“I have no doubts in my mind that this is the work of Kim,” Namjoon said as he tapped his fingers on the desk. “Kim Jinwoo, not his father, it’s got his name all over it.”

The department went silent again at his words, a heaviness setting in the air like a blanket of fog. Clearly they had all been taken aback by his reply, had not been expecting it at all. Namjoon knew that the rest of the team worked in their own departments, that they didn’t have full knowledge but rather select areas that they all teamed together to make a bigger picture with. Taehyung was by far the most knowledgeable but he wasn’t here right now, meaning that the responsibility to figure things out had now been left with him. He wondered if Taehyung even had a clue about any of this and thought that the answer was likely no, not yet.

“Why do you think it’s Kim?” Hoseok asked, breaking the silence for the rest of the team. He moved to fold his arms on the desk, right beside the photographs, clearly finding the position more comfortable for his recovering stomach. “That’s a pretty big accusation to make, you know? It could be so many other men so what makes you think that this is Kim?”

“Well, without getting into any complicated connections, I’m assuming from my gut instinct when I saw the photographs. I’ve seen a lot of dead men since working for this desk and I know it sounds pretty strange but every man has their own method, yes? Like how we know The Boy from Jeon, Jeon from some tight street dealer that offs a rival.” Namjoon collected the photographs off the desk and moved over to the board. There was a free section on the other side of the map and so he sorted through to find the ones that would go on the board. “Looking at these photographs my first thought was: Kim Jinwoo.”

“How’s he different from Jeon or the others exactly?” Daesu asked as stuck a bright red thumbtack on Incheon and then added a sticky note to the side, scrawling down the exact location and keywords onto the yellow sheet of paper.

“Jeon doesn’t do mass hits, he would much rather get an isolated death,” Namjoon explained as he stuck his own tack through the photograph of Woo and pinned it to the board. “He likes his deaths clean and simple. This is neither of those things, this is messy and it’s aggressive. It shows emotion, which Jeon’s victims never do. You never look at his victims and know who made a slight mistake and who really fucked up, they’re all the same. No one gets more than three bullets, max. These men look to have seven at least, maybe as many as ten. Looks like automatic guns, not at all like the semi-automatics Jeon has his men use.”

“OK, so it’s someone that’s pissed off,” Sungah agreed with a nod. “I can see that now.” There was a hint of light sarcasm in her tone and when Namjoon glanced over his shoulder he saw Hoseok smirking. “Is Kim more pissed off than the rest?”

“The Kim and Jeon family have always had close ties, since the foundations of Haedogje Pa were cemented it’s been those two families,” he explained as he checked the other photographs. “But The Boy ruined those ties. He and Kim Jinwoo don’t get along, never have by all accounts. Who else has enough reason and power to strike back like this? Enough influence and anger?” A quick glance back at his team showed that they were all thinking this over, playing his words over. “A few pissed off men wouldn’t be able to pull this off. This is way too big for a petty attempt at a rebellion.” Sungah made a noise in agreement at this as she placed her hands on her hips. “I mean, I could be wrong but it’s the only thing I can think, and if Taehyung was here then I think he would say the exact same thing too.”

“Mmm, probably would,” Hoseok agreed with a nod. Namjoon added another shot onto the board, a panned shot that showed the entire room and all of the corpses like some strange class photograph. That was all that they needed, the rest could be kept in a file for reference. He went back over to his teammate’s desk and placed them down.

“It makes sense that they would work for Kim, but it’s makes no sense at all that they would try this.” Daesu shook his head as he finished jotting things down on the sticky note. “Surely this won’t work? They can’t do anything, the second Jeon finds out about this then there’s going to be hell.”

“I don’t think that it will take long at all for him to find out. The Boy would have to be pretty stupid to not see this for what it is, a blatant attack,” Namjoon continued. “But what I want to know is: what happens when he finds out?”

“A full-blown revolt?” Hoseok suggested as he shifted in his chair, hand going to touch his stomach briefly before he moved it away again. “It could be in The Boy’s favour, his loyal men standing up to defend his honour, or it could be against him like a ripple effect. A few men get the ball rolling and an entire army could rise up and start marching.”

“A purge?” Daesu suggested with an uncertain furrow of his brows. “If The Boy gets the info first and gets names he could clean up big time and sort it out.”

“But isn’t that the problem in the first place?” Hoseok interjected. “The Boy only knows violence, he can’t be diplomatic. Jeon’s men know this fact, he can’t handle an empire when his only ability to control his army is violence. What will a purge do? Just further show men that The Boy’s incompetent as a ruler.”

“The Boy has already been purging Haedogje Pa in preparation for his ascension. I think this is a reaction to the start of the purge, an attempt at a preemptive strike before a few men start losing their heads. Haedogje Pa have a fight on their hands,” Namjoon said as he folded his arms over his chest and dropped his eyes to the desk. “Maybe even a war.”

That was when the tapped phone started vibrating in his shirt pocket.

Taehyung climbed out of the backseat of the car and he slammed the door shut hard. The casino building was right in front of him, that imposing block of grey concrete. As he studied the building he reached down to fix his jacket, pulling down on the lengths without much thought. Taehyung glanced across the street to see nothing at all amiss; no cars parked along the length of the road, no pedestrians walking up and down the sidewalks. Not that it mattered if anyone was observing him, there would no doubt be cameras planted all over the area watching him. Tracking his every movement like a mechanical hawk and relaying it over a security system inside the building. He crossed the sidewalk and entered the building, seeing that the same female worker as always was standing behind the reception desk when he pushed the glass doors open. She glanced up at him and then gave him a smile and a nod, clearly recognising him from their last two encounters. That was confirmation for him to enter the back room so he held the curtain aside and quickly went across the massive area to the office. Just like his last visit he knocked on the door and entered after hearing Seokjin’s voice.

“Master Jeon told me that you have info for me to collect,” Taehyung stated, closing the door behind him as he did. Seokjin was seated at his desk just like always, it seemed that he lived there: hidden behind stacks of files and his computer monitors. “The info you mentioned you would collect last week?”

“Yes I do, as promised.” Seokjin reached up to shove his rounded glasses up the bridge of his nose. Taehyung glanced down at his table to see an open file. This one certainly wasn’t job applications but rather contracts of some sort, white pages covered in tiny print clipped inside. “Information on Lee Yoochun, as requested. Just give me a moment.”

Seokjin turned back to one of his computer monitors, hitting a few buttons on his computer as he did. Taehyung didn’t sit down and instead just stayed standing by the desk, watching him intently. Jungkook had had the message passed along to him this morning by one of the apartment bodyguards, telling him to go to Songpa-gu to collect the files. Though the man hadn’t told him Taehyung knew that Jungkook was once again in another meeting that he wasn’t allowed to be present in. That would be the only reason why he hadn’t given him the order personally, which meant that the meeting was important of course. Taehyung would likely find out later, assuming that it was important enough to warrant his attention of course.

If Jungkook wanted to build an empire with him then sharing information was going to be very, very important.

“OK,” Seokjin turned away from the monitor and glanced over his desk before moving to pull a desk drawer open. Taehyung heard him sitting through it, the rustling sound of paper being pushed aside. Then he was sitting back upright and holding an envelope in hand, a small white letter envelope rather than a padded manilla one. “Be sure to check the documents over fully,” Seokjin specified as he handed him the envelope. He could feel the weight of the USB pen inside of it, heavy with information so that it was almost like an anchor on his palm. “Make sure you don’t miss anything.” The other man gave him a slight smile and Taehyung felt a little confused by his words.

Of course he was going to check it over fully. He would be sure to scan the document thrice over just to be sure that he didn’t miss a single thing. He was used to doing so back in the department and working within Haedogje Pa was no different. After such scrutiny he would start entering the data into the computer so that Jungkook could access it at will when he was free from his meeting. Yet Seokjin was talking to him like he was stupid, as if he was new to this and didn’t have a clue. Taehyung slipped the envelope into his inner jacket pocket.

“What should I be expecting to find on the USB?” he asked, thinking about the last time he had checked files on it for Jungkook. He would very much like to avoid repeating that mistake if possible.

“Transactions, photographs, the usual. The USB contains information on Lee Yoochun proving that he’s been going to places that he shouldn’t be going and seeing some men that he would be wise to avoid.” Seokjin pushed his glasses up his nose with his forefinger again. “Nothing worthy of blackmailing him with so don’t be alarmed.”

“How d’you get this info, Seokjin?” Taehyung asked as he fixed his jacket. “You don’t have to tell me but I’ve been trying to figure it out for days. Why does Master Jeon pay you to get info for him instead of collecting it himself?”

“The walls have ears, Taehyung, and eyes too,” Seokjin explained as he glanced back down at his file. “There are so many powerful men that forget that ordinary people see and hear them, and there are so many prostitutes more than happy to sell photographs and personal sightings.” He turned a page of the file and looked up at him, his lips lifting at the corners. “And bank tellers, and restaurant owners, and Haedogje Pa men themselves. You probably know a dozen men that would snitch for cash.” Taehyung held his gaze and he couldn’t help but feel waves of admiration for the other man. Talk about intelligence and slyness. “I’m a people person, Taehyung.”

“Yeah, I guessed that much.”

“Remember, check them over very carefully. Really read between the lines.”

Taehyung left the building without another say on the matter, weaving around women getting ready to switch over the live telling feeds. The main area was packed full of glittering evening dresses and the overpowering scent of countless perfumes clung to the air as they exited and entered the rooms, finishing and starting shifts. The workers on the computers stayed where they were however, clearly not finished for the day. Taehyung wondered if this place ran twenty-four hours a day and found that he wouldn’t be surprised if it did. He stepped outside the casino and onto the sidewalk, already collecting his fake phone in preparation, the one Lim had supplied him with that he had yet to even use properly. He popped the door open and climbed inside, unlocking the phone with his thumb.

“Ah, bad signal.” Taehyung held his phone up and pretended to study the screen for a few seconds before shifting to hold it on a different angle. He hadn’t even closed the door yet. “Shit, you getting any signal here, Yang?”

“Yes, Master, I’m getting a signal, but only low,” the man explained as he glanced at him using the rear-view mirror.

“Is there a pay phone around here? Master Jeon instructed me to report when I collected the info. I don’t want there to be a delay.” Taehyung was lying through his teeth and he wondered if the man knew this. He didn’t have Jungkook’s contact number just yet and he hadn’t been told to contact anyone. The chauffeur thought this over for a moment before saying that he recalled seeing one on the adjacent street earlier. Clearly he believed him. “I’ll be right back.”

Taehyung shoved his phone into his pocket as he climbed back out of the car again, slamming the door shut. As he walked down the sidewalk he couldn’t believe that this sudden idea had come to him like that. Just out of the blue. Would this actually work? He couldn’t see how it would go wrong, after all Yang would have no reason to question why he was using a public pay phone if not to call Jungkook. He supposed that it might be risky to act so sporadically like this but he couldn’t seem to suppress the urge to do so. After all, he had been living on gut instinct and urges since the very start so what difference was this?

Just like the chauffeur had told him there was a phone box on the adjacent street, not far from the corner. It was standing just a few feet away from a bus stop, a black box with glass partitions. So Taehyung went over to it and pulled the door open, searching his trousers pockets for the coins he had stuffed in there this morning. He managed to get them free, cupping them in his palm as he picked up the receiver. He didn’t know how long he could even use the device for but even a single minute was better than nothing.

“OK OK, I can do this. I can do this,” Taehyung muttered the mantra under his breath as balanced the receiver into the crook between his neck and shoulder. He started slipping the coins into the slot as fast as he could. There was a dull buzzing sound in his ear as he did and when he was out of coins he started hitting buttons on the keypad with his thumb. He entered the phone number slowly, making sure to enter it correctly and save himself much unneeded trouble. He pressed the call button and sighed as he listened to the dial tone sounding. He even closed his eyes just so he didn’t have to look at the grimy box in front of him, at the dust and dirt trapped in the grooves of the plastic and metal buttons. It took a several droning rings until there was a static crackle on the other end of the line. Namjoon had just picked up.

“Hey, hey man it’s me,” Taehyung said before the other man could speak. He leaned forward and placed his hand on the side of the box. Almost like he needed it for support. He actually did. “I’m here and I’ve got info.”

“ Christ, Taehyung, talk about perfect timing, ” Namjoon said in surprise, and he could hear how shocked he was down the line. He didn’t really know what he meant by this but he assumed that he must have called the other man right after he had mentioned him to the team. Or maybe something to do with the operation had been discussed. Good, he was glad to know that the others were working hard too and helping him from the outside even when he couldn’t see them. “ I sure as hell didn’t see this coming. ”

“Before we talk, is Hoseok there? Is he OK?” Taehyung asked breathlessly. He could feel the pit of his stomach knotting up tightly just by mentioning his teammate’s name. Nerves, disgust and something that could have been fear all mingling together at once. Namjoon told him that he was, that Hoseok was in the department room with him and everyone else but Youngjae, who was out on the streets working. “Put him on the line, please, Namjoon, I need to speak to him.”

“ I…I don’t know if that’s a good idea, brother. Maybe you should try and stop thinking about what happened until- ”

“Please, Namjoon, just this one time,” Taehyung almost pleaded. “I need to speak to him and then I’ll leave it all alone, yeah?” There were a few seconds of silence on the line and he knew that Namjoon was thinking it over. Wondering if this was a good or bad idea. Did that mean that Hoseok was pissed off with him or was he just scared that that was the case? Taehyung wouldn’t at all be surprised if he was, all things considered. He had fucking stabbed him three times in the stomach. Then he heard a soft rustling noise as the phone was handed to someone else, followed by something that sounded like an exhale of breath.

“ Hello? ”

Hearing Hoseok’s voice was enough to make Taehyung almost squirm, his stomach tightening to the point of painful. He felt his breath hitching and he had to press his lips together to stop any moans from escaping. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all? All that Taehyung could think of right now, after hearing his voice like this, was the look of confusion that had been on his face when he had plunged the knife into his stomach. He wondered what thought had appeared in Hoseok’s mind too, if it was of him working in the department or the sight of him crossing the sidewalk and kicking the café table away.

“ Hello? …Think he lost signal I dunno- ”

“Hoseok, hey, Hoseok, it’s me,” he said before the other man could hand the phone back to Namjoon. “Shit, I-I dunno what the fuck to say, uh-” Taehyung took a quick intake of breath, wishing that he hadn’t blurted that out so stupidly, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry man, I didn’t-”

“ I know, I know you don’t need to explain, Tae. I understand, ” Hoseok interrupted, talking to him in an eerily calm voice. Listening to him speak it was easy enough to believe that he was perfectly fine. Taehyung had expected him to still be in hospital, hooked up to machines and recovering but of course he was doing okay. It was Hoseok, he should have expected this. “ You don’t need to say anything- ”

“But I do! I do need to explain and say sorry,” Taehyung spoke over him. “I’m so fucking sorry Hoseok. I didn’t mean to do that, I didn’t wanna do that but I had no choice. The Boy was in the car with me, he knew you were police and he knew you were tailing the vehicle. If I had refused to do what he had told me to do then I’d have blown my cover and-”

“ I know, and I’m OK, Tae. I’ve got stitches right now and I’m OK, I’m recovering. ” Taehyung let his breath out in a heavy sigh. “ I’m in the department with everyone else and we’re working with you, not against you. I’m gonna put Namjoon back on, alright? ” Hoseok explained. “ He needs to talk to you about something very important. ” There were more static sounds from the end of the line and then Namjoon’s voice.

“ We’ve got dead men on our end, Taehyung, several Haedogje Pa men discovered this morning. Looks to be a hit job, they were executed by gunfire, shotgun wounds and a semi-automatic. From what I can tell it was a handgun. We’ve identified one man so far out of them all: Woo. ”

Taehyung opened his eyes and stared at the phone keypad. He had heard what he had said and yet he couldn’t seem to understand his words. What did Namjoon mean by dead men? He had heard nothing about this at all. Was that why Jungkook was absent today, because he was being addressed on this very important matter? And Woo…Woo was fucking dead? What the hell was going on?

“ Is this news to you or did you already know? ”

“…No, no I didn’t know. I didn’t have a clue that this had happened, Namjoon. Uh, I gotta be quick ‘cos I dunno how long I’ve got left but there’s something going on right now with Haedogje Pa. Some uprising against Jungk- I mean The Boy, and I’m trying to figure it all out for him.”

“ We think that this might all be connected, Taehyung, and I’ve got a feeling that this has something to do with Kim.”

“Kim? Kim Jinwoo, yeah I’ve had my suspicions for a while now.” Taehyung nodded even though the other man couldn’t see the action. “But I ain’t got any proof yet. I mean, it’s all word of mouth and gut feelings and that’s not good enough. I know it’s him but I can’t do anything without hardcore proof, which I’m hoping to get my hands on today.”

“ What do you mean ‘do anything’? ” Namjoon asked, sounding both confused and intrigued by this. Taehyung stared at the keypad on the machine and he realised that he might just have said too much with that comment. What exactly could he say to distract away from the fact he had meant that he couldn’t kill anyone just yet? He had a very strong feeling that Namjoon knew that he had meant that too. After all they likely knew about Nam and Ahn and had their suspicions about who had butchered them like that.

“Namjoon, brother, I’ve done some bad shit over these last few weeks. The kind of shit I can’t tell you about and-”

“ You don’t tell us about that stuff, ” Namjoon spoke over him. “ You tell us about the information and nothing else, yes? Everything else, that goes into files for the department when it’s all over and nobody ever has to know about it. ”

“I’m gonna have to do some more shit, OK? I-I don’t wanna but I’ve got no choice so I’ve started buh-blocking it out.”

“ Block it out, Taehyung, do whatever you need to do to keep yourself safe. That’s how you survive now. ”

“I’ll try and call again as soon as I can. Just…just wait on me I promise I will. Also tell Hoseok I’m sorry one more time, yeah? I dunno if he believes me and-”

“ He believes you, Taehyung. Now go, don’t risk your ass. ”

Taehyung said goodbye and then put the receiver back in the cradle. For a few seconds he just stared at the box in front of him, leaning against it for support. The phone box was completely silent and he couldn’t even hear anything through the glass walls. After taking a minute to collect himself he pushed the door open and stepped outside onto the sidewalk. Taehyung walked around the corner of the street and back to the Mitsubishi, pulling the back door open and ducking to climb back inside.

“Did you manage to contact him without any trouble, Master Kim?”

“Had to leave a message, he must still be in his meeting,” Taehyung explained as he settled back against the seat. Yang started the car again and pulled away from the curb without another word on the matter. Just like a good chauffeur would.

When he arrived back at the apartment block Taehyung went right up to his room without the slightest hesitation. He even removed the envelope from his pocket in preparation, pulling the USB pen free as the carriage ascended and studying it. There was very important information on this small device, information that would finally point him in the exact direction he needed rather than the useless database information he had scanned for two whole days now. So when he stepped inside his room he went right over to the computer, not even bothering to lock the door behind him. The USB pen went into the port, he downloaded the files, and then he started the thorough search Seokjin had told him to do.

The photographs came first, a dozen or so shots that showed Lee in random areas of the capital. The man had a penchant for wearing grey and blue suits rather than black, making it easy to identify him in the photographs. Taehyung didn’t know exactly what he was looking at, for he didn’t see any men that stood out to him. Clearly it was the areas that were of more interest. Jungkook would know without a doubt where they had been taken, so for now he concentrated on scanning the documents instead. He opened a Word file and studied it for a moment before feeling a wave of confusion wash over him.

Taehyung eyed the screen, scrolling up and down the page as he tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with the document. He could see various transactions and reports and yet none of them seemed to make sense to him. There were chunks missing, as if there was an error with the formatting so the lines of text were separated by lines of blank spaces. He couldn’t even begin to figure out what was wrong with the file and wondered if there was error with it.

There was a sudden and curt knock and Taehyung turned his head to look at the door. Then he called out to let whoever it was know that they could step inside. It was most certainly not Jungkook for he didn’t knock at all. He watched the door handle go down and then Jimin stepped into the room, closing it behind him without a word. Taehyung eyed him to see that he was wearing a loose white tee-shirt, the ends brushing against his upper thighs, and presumably something underneath it seen as the rest of his legs were bare. The cream and gold collar was on and Taehyung fancied he almost heard the metal links clinking together as he crossed the room. There was an unmarked envelope in his hand and Jimin held it out to him. He eyed it and wondered what the hell the contents could possibly be before deciding to reach over and accept the envelope off him.

“Kookie gave it to me this morning and told me to hand it over,” Jimin explained as he shifted to sit on the edge of his desk. “Very important, I think? I don’t know what’s inside.” Taehyung couldn’t help but drop his eyes to stare at his bare thighs and he caught sight of a flash of pink under the hem of his tee. Cotton panties, the kind he imagined would have ‘ little angel ’ or some other strangely infantilising message printed on them. He fiddled with the envelope as he dragged his eyes away, tearing the top open to access whatever was inside. Photographs. He stuck his fingers in and pulled them free to check.

“…Shit,” Taehyung muttered as he eyed the photographs. It was just like what Namjoon had told him. Photographs of dead men, looked to be straight from the crime scene. He briefly wondered if anyone in the police departments across the city had leaked them for cash, knowing that that was the exact case. He flicked through them and tried to identify anyone but most looked to be goons and nothing more special than that.

Except for Woo.

Even in death the man looked oddly composed, nothing more than a few tears in his suit and blooming patches of blood visibly staining his white shirt for it didn’t show on the black suit. Not like some of the other men, one of whom had had most of his head shaved away from a powerful blast of what could have only been a shotgun. If Taehyung had to guess he would assume a sawn-off shotgun because it would have been easier to smuggle in. There were photographs of the building, of walls riddled with countless bullet holes deep enough to punch into the plaster. A scattershot effect. Maybe an automatic too judging from the multitude of shell casings on the floor. Made sense, someone ran in with the smaller gun and opened fired with rapid shots to catch them all by surprise before the man with the shotgun jumped in and blasted whoever was still breathing away. Namjoon had called it a hit job and that was the only way that Taehyung could possibly see it. He shoved the photographs back into the envelope and placed it down on the desk only for Jimin to pick it up again.

“Uh, you shouldn’t look at those, Jimin,” Taehyung cautioned, reaching over to try and get the envelope out of his hands. Yet Jimin moved them away from him, clearly still wanting to look at the photographs. “There’s graphic photos inside, dead bodies I don’t-”

“Oh? You think I’ve never seen a dead body before?” The other man raised an eyebrow at him, expression looking rather mischievous. It was strange all things considered. Taehyung studied him in confusion and Jimin opened the envelope again to pull the photographs free. “Trust me, I’ve seen dead bodies and more. Seen things much worse than a corpse.”

“Like what?”

“Like being lodged in a building full of baby prostitutes,” Jimin remarked as he started looking through the photographs. His expression didn’t budge, clearly not at all fazed by the sight of gunshot wounds. Taehyung studied him and realised that he had very much likely seen such wounds in the past. He was scared of guns after all. “You see some things in situations like that.”

“I imagine you do…”

“Give me corpses any day.” Jimin shuffled to the next photograph, still looking rather bored. When he got to the photograph of Woo he paused for a moment, staring at it and showcasing a little interest. “Huh, that’s a shame. I liked Woo. He was quiet and didn’t cause any trouble. A real shame.” The man checked the last couple before slipping them back into the envelope and turning his attention back to him. “What’s going on?”

For a few seconds Taehyung could only stare at him, wondering what he meant by that. The question applied to so many different things right now and he couldn’t seem to figure out what. Jimin held his gaze and waited for him to reply, less pressure for swiftness coming from him. Not at all like Jungkook, who always gave off an air of slight impatience whenever he was made to wait for a reply.

“I, uh, I collected info from Seokjin this morning and I’ve been checking over the files,” he explained, turning back to glance at his computer monitor. “There’s some things here but most of it…it feels like there’s something missing.” Taehyung reached over to touch the mouse, moving it softly for a moment before letting go of it again. “I dunno, I can’t figure it out.”

Jimin shifted to sit right down on his lap, settling down rather comfortably on his crotch as if he belonged there. The weight and warmth of his ass settling down on him caught him by surprise and he tried to not shift under him. Taehyung had to lean over slightly to see what he was doing, watching Jimin grab hold of the mouse.

“What’re you doing?” he asked in surprise, chin brushing against his arm.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m helping you,” Jimin retorted. “You’ve never been given encrypted data before, I’m going to teach you how to retrieve it.”

“Encrypted? What’d you mean encrypted, it’s right there.” Taehyung tried to get more comfortable, moving to balance his chin on his shoulder and place his hands on his waist. This made Jimin laugh under his breath as he opened the Word file.

“Did you notice anything unusual about the files? Blank lines? Strange formatting?” Jimin hit two buttons on the keyboard to highlight all of the text. He furrowed his brow at this and watched him move the cursor over to the Tools bar. He hit the font colour and selected black and that was when Taehyung saw text appearing on the screen that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“What the fuck?”

“Seokjin does this often when dealing with…sensitive issues. Blackmail content is fine, he doesn’t need to worry about that. But things like this? Better to be safe than sorry.” Jimin leaned back for a moment, back curving wonderfully against his chest as he settled his weight against him. “I’ve watched Kookie deal with such documents before. The second you said something was missing I knew that it would be this. It’s just low-level security, nothing extreme but enough to fool anyone that isn’t aware that they’re looking for such information.”

“I didn’t even think of that…” Taehyung muttered as he scanned the screen. “Shit Jimin, I thought the file was corrupted or something! I’d have missed all of this info ‘cos it was camouflaged into the background.” The other man made a pleased noise at this, a soft purr as his lips turned up at the corners. “You’re fucking smart.”

“Of course I am,” Jimin agreed in a rather smug tone. He was clearly enjoying the praises, wriggling against him almost excitedly.

“Does Jungkook know y’know all of this?” Taehyung asked in a quiet voice. He let go of his waist with one hand so that he could grab the mouse, finger scrolling along the pad as he scanned the document. The other man didn’t reply to his question and so he turned his face to look at him. “Does he know that you’re this smart?”

“…Probably,” Jimin replied, smile on his lips slowly relaxing. “I don’t think it matters. Kookie doesn’t want me because I’m smart, Tae, that just helps keep his interest.” Taehyung studied the side of his face and he wondered if he had asked something wrong, something that might have upset the other man. But he had only meant to praise him and nothing more than that so he hoped that that was not the case. Why would he want to upset Jimin? The other man had been nothing if not exceptionally sweet to him from their very first meeting and he would make a very good partner too. He knew how to retrieve encrypted data and he had a feeling that Jimin knew men just as well as he did.

“It’s good,” Taehyung said in that same soft voice. He slowly moved his fingers on his waist, massaging his skin through the thin tee. “It’s good that you’re smart ‘cos you helped me. You’re more than a pretty face, yeah? I mean you’re really fucking pretty but-” Jimin laughed softly at this, the sound making him smile as he did, “but you’re more than that and I wanted you to know that.”

“…Thank you, Tae,” he said after a moment of thought. “That’s very sweet of you.” Taehyung offered him a smile and Jimin returned it, moving one hand off the desk to place it over his hand on his waist. He gently brushed his fingers along the back of his hand, around his knuckles in soft whorls. “I could work with Haedogje Pa with that kind of knowledge, hmm?”

“Yeah but…well, you don’t wanna work for ‘em, Jimin. Stick to working with Jungkook and avoid the danger. Leave that shit to me instead.”

“You think I’m not in danger?” Jimin asked in a quiet voice, eyes glued to the monitor screen. Taehyung waited for him to continue and after a moment of silence he explained. “I know so much about Haedogje Pa and Kookie. If I decide that I’m done, that I don’t want to do this anymore, then he’ll kill me.”

“Who’ll kill you?” Taehyung asked. As if he didn’t already know the answer. As if Jungkook hadn’t told him all of this that night of the livefeed.

“Kookie,” Jimin replied in an oddly flat voice, rather devoid of fear or concern. “He would kill me to make sure I don’t blab to anyone. I even know how he would do it, I know him that well. He would strangle me to death, he quite likes choking but because of the films he had to stop doing it to me.” Taehyung stared at the side of his face dumbly, one hand still on the mouse and the other tight on his waist. Suddenly the documents didn’t seem that important to him. “So I don’t like to think about the future, I like to concentrate on the present instead. It’s so much more easier to live that way. My life is like the existence of a fucking mayfly.”

“Jimin?”

“Mmm?”

“Do…d’you love, Jungkook?” Taehyung asked. He wasn’t really sure why he asked this question but it had just come to mind and he had been unable to stop himself from asking it. Maybe he would regret it, maybe not. But he felt like he needed to know the answer to it, just to be safe.

“Am I supposed to love him?” Jimin asked as he turned to look at him fully, shifting on his lap as he did. “I didn’t realise that was part of our contract.” The apartment fell silent for a moment and then he continued. “Do you have any idea how much money I get every single day from this relationship? I have a black credit card all to myself and I don’t even pay for any purchases, Jungkook does. Do you think we’re in love, Tae? Is that what you think this all is?”

“Jungkook talks of you in a way that made me think that it was love,” Taehyung explained, trying to not think about the whole ‘murder him with my own hands’ thing that both of them knew about. “I could be wrong and I probably am, I was just wondering. Is this a business contract or is it love?”

“I…I don’t know,” Jimin said as he turned back to look at the computer monitor. There was an air of discomfort coming off him and Taehyung wondered why. Was it because Jimin had never thought or spoken about these things before he had asked that question? “…Maybe, I don’t know. I don’t think about things like that, Tae,” Jimin replied in a weary tone. “I just told you, I don’t think I just live without all of that because it’s easier that way.”

Taehyung didn’t ask another question on the subject because he could sense that Jimin didn’t want to talk about it. Was maybe scared of talking about it. After a minute of silence Jimin shifted to get off his lap with a sigh.

“I’m going to go back to the suite, get stoned and maybe sleep for a little while-”

“Wait, don’t go.” Taehyung slowly pulled him back onto his lap and he held onto his waist tightly to stop him from trying it again. “Not yet just…”

Jimin stayed still and silent on his lap and so Taehyung moved forward to press his lips against the back of his neck. The collar got in the way and so he let go of his waist to reach up and undo the buckle at the back, pulling it through with several tugs. The other man asked him what he was doing as he removed it and dropped it on the desk and he didn’t reply. Taehyung cupped the side of his neck in one hand so that he could plant kisses from his jaw down his throat. Jimin reacted to this, shoulders twitching at the contact of his breath and lips on his skin, but he didn’t try and move off his lap or tell him to stop.

“Jimin?” Taehyung turned his face away from his throat, breathing his name into his hair. The other man made a soft noise, letting him know that he was listening. “Do you…do you want me to reward you?”

“Reward?” Jimin asked, sounding more confused than surprised. “What do you mean?”

“Do you want me to take care of you? Like what I do with Jungkook?” he clarified as he rubbed his nose down the side of his head. “I’ll do it, just tell me if you want me to.” Taehyung blew warmth breath against the back of his ear and Jimin squirmed on his lap.

“I’m not your master, you don’t have to do it if-”

“I want to do it, I want to,” Taehyung replied, pulling down on the tee so that he could expose the curved ball of his shoulder. He pressed his lips against his skin, planting little kisses on him and then opening his mouth to lick at his shoulder. “It’s a reward, right? A reward for your hard work.”

“Those rewards are for…for you.”

“Mmm, you gave me a lot of rewards.” Taehyung hovered his teeth over his shoulder. “I should pay you back.” He sank his teeth down into his skin, hearing Jimin’s breath hitch as he did. He sucked his lips around the bite, kissing his soft skin and feeling the hard curve of bone under it. When he moved his face away there was a red wet mark on his skin, little indents left behind from his teeth.

“I can’t buy you designer clothes and sex toys but I can give you something…” Taehyung whispered down his ear. He slipped his hand under the ends of his tee and up his stomach, feeling his smooth skin. He trailed his touch down to the waistband of his panties and then pressed his palm down on his crotch. The warmth of his skin and the slow strokes against him made Jimin start stiffening to his touch. “Something better than all that.”

“Tae…” He rolled his head back onto his shoulder. Jimin was straining against the silk, cock tenting the panties so much that he was almost spilling out of them. Taehyung rubbed his thumb over his head, watching as a wet patch start to spread out from his touch. The pink darkened to a near red and Jimin let out in a breathless moan.

“Are you thinking about Jungkook right now?” Taehyung asked, pressing his thumb down and eliciting a gasp from the other man. Just like he had told him that day in the department store, standing in the perfume aisle, always thinking about Jungkook to perform for the website livestreams.

“No, no I’m thinking about you, Tae.”

Jimin’s weight wasn’t that much at all. He managed to lift him up easily, pulling him closer as he wrenched down on the panties and started pressing kisses on the dip of his back. He got the panties down to past his knees before giving up and grabbing hold of his waist again. The other man had to spread his legs so that he could balance his weight on his knees. There wasn’t much room left on the desk chair but with some maneuvering he managed to stick his legs through the gaps between the seat and armrests.

“Jimin,” he said between kisses, lips trailing down the curves of his buttocks. “You’ve got such a nice ass, kinda like a…a peach. I want to bite it and…and taste it.” This made Jimin laugh breathlessly until he actually nipped at his skin. Then he squirmed on his lap again, as if he didn’t like it.

“Tae, the films, you can’t leave bruises,” Jimin mumbled. “Kookie will get mad.”

“Oh? Then I’ll have to find something else to do with my tongue…” Taehyung wet his lips and he felt the most pressing urge to smirk at the idea that had just popped into his mind. “Jimin, has Jungkook ever eaten you out before?” The almost shocked and embarrassed sounds that Jimin made were fantastic. A porn star getting flustered because of him, well wasn’t that the best kind of turn on? “I think it could be pretty hot…”

“Tae, don’t joke around,” Jimin replied yet Taehyung hadn’t been joking. To prove this point he continued pressing kisses along his buttocks. When he licked along his skin towards his entrance the other man seemed to realise that he wasn’t joking. Taehyung had to shift in the seat to get a better angle, lowering himself down as he did. “Seriously, what happened to you…you being a sweet virgin?”

“I think you have to take most of the blame for that,” Taehyung retorted as he planted several more kisses on his skin. “Work with me here, peachy-”

“Peachy?”

“Yeah, it’s your new nickname. Work with me, give me a better position,” he muttered, still fighting the urge to smirk to himself. Peachy, that was a good one. What was even better was how Jimin was playing along with him right now, just like he had been hoping.

Jimin leaned forward and folded one arm on the computer desk to balance his weight more evenly and the shift in position was even better. It curved his back wonderfully and Taehyung didn’t need to hold onto his waist. Instead he ran his hands up his thighs to his buttocks, which he spread open wider. Now he could do so much more than lick at him in a kittenish way but actually press the broad of his tongue against him. The heat and wetness of his tongue made Jimin gasp and when he rolled it up to lick at him he felt his thighs trembling. Taehyung traced around his entrance slowly, tip of his tongue on the pucker of muscles, before he prodded and slipped it inside.

The moan that escaped Jimin’s lips was one of the best things he had ever heard.

Taehyung had never done anything like this before, had never even seen pornographic videos with such content. As a result he very much had to experiment and figure out what to do. He needed to open him up more to get his tongue inside better so Taehyung slipped a finger inside, quickly making it two so that he could open them up and stretch him further. There was a little resistance at first but then the other man started to loosen up for him, much quicker than Jungkook had.

Jimin saved him the trouble and touched himself in rhythm with his tongue. When he slowly curled it and licked back to his entrance the other man jerked himself off with slow, measured strokes, and when he jabbed his tongue deeper and faster Jimin pumped his fist and made a series of broken moans at the dual sensation. Taehyung didn’t know if he could stimulate him with his tongue alone so he also used his fingers. It was messier and harder than he had imagined for he had to keep taking quick intakes of breath, face pressed up against him. Taehyung found himself dribbling down his chin and Jimin was so hot and tight around his tongue that he couldn’t believe it. At one point Jimin moved his arm off the computer desk just so he could reach back and tangle his fingers in his hair and push his face that much closer to him.

“Do I tuh-taste as sweet?” he asked breathlessly. Taehyung couldn’t really taste anything more than the lingering remains of something he thought might have been lube because the scent of his skin was much stronger, that sweet cocoa butter lotion that left his skin so ridiculously soft and smooth.

“The sweetest,” he replied as he worked him with his fingers and saw his thigh muscles trembling.

Porn star or not it didn’t take much effort at all before Jimin climaxed. Maybe because he was new to the sensation or just excited. Maybe because he was actually good at it. Whatever the case he was scissoring him open with his fingers and relentlessly jabbing his tongue inside of him when Jimin’s body quivered and he let out a cry of pleasure. Taehyung felt something warm on his trouser leg and he realised it was cum spurting down onto his thighs and most certainly all over the floor too. He slipped his fingers and tongue free and delivered a final kiss before moving his head away. He could finally catch his breath properly and he reached up to wipe at his chin. For a minute the apartment room was silent save for the sound of Jimin breathing irregularly. He shifted to sit back down on his lap, seemingly content enough to not follow through with his earlier words. Getting stoned and taking a nap was clearly not of importance to him right now. Jimin no doubt could feel his erection pressing into his ass and thigh yet he stayed firmly in place on his lap.

“Hmm, kind of funny that I knew something you didn’t,” he said and Taehyung could hear the smile in his tone. “But do you know something I’m an expert at? Blowjobs.”

“Uh, not right now I’ve got work to do,” Taehyung replied with a soft head shake. “Working with my eyes and brain rather than my tongue and fingers.” The other man laughed softly under his breath as he shifted to collect his panties off the floor. “Jungkook’ll kill me for fucking around when I should be working.”

“OK,” Jimin said, shifting to slip them back on. “Then let’s look at the rest, hmm? See if there’s anything else you need assistance with.” Taehyung wasn’t able to tell if this was a joke or if he was being serious. He turned back to the computer monitor and grabbed the mouse.

“Seokjin gathered info on a man for me, a man called Lee Yoochun. Until Ahn Kangho told me his name I didn’t even know who he was and now I can’t stop seeing his name and face everywhere,” Taehyung explained. “Y’know him?”

“Vaguely,” Jimin replied as he watched the screen. “Probably met him at some point if he’s important, might have been fucked by him in the past.” He opened the photograph files and slowly started going through them again, allowing the other man to look at them.

“Works for Jeon, seems to be really good at embezzlement and monetary issues. Helps Haedogje Pa keep the massive monopoly the Jeon family controls.”

“Hmm, then he’s important but I don’t know him. I know that building though,” Jimin said as he lifted an arm and pointed at the screen. “The one they’re standing in front of. It’s called ‘La Zone’.” Taehyung stared at the dead neon sign to see that not all of it was visible but it seemed that he was correct. The letters he could see seemed to spell that word, not English. Maybe French? “It’s in Gangnam-gu, right here in the middle of the club and bar circuit.”

“You ever been there before?”

“…Only once with Jungkook, it belongs to the Kim family and currently it belongs to Kim Jinwoo,” Jimin replied in a matter of fact voice. “Was his first investment actually, one of the most popular Haedogje Pa owned bars.”

“I dunno much about Kim…”

“Of course you don’t know Kim. Not a lot of Haedogje Pa men do. It’s hard to find out about him. Kookie turned him into the middle child but I know enough. I’ve met him a few times, he’s courteous enough I guess.”

“Meaning?”

“Well, he might condemn me to hell but he’s very polite whilst doing so,” Jimin remarked with a laugh. “You’ve never met him, Tae, but trust me, Kim Jinwoo is the closest thing to a gentleman you’ll find in this gang.”

Taehyung hadn’t met him but he had seen photographs of course. Kim Jinwoo did look strangely pleasant on them, he guessed. The kind of young man older women would want as a son-in-law. Certainly not a ruthless bastard like the rest of the men in Haedogje Pa. But pleasant or not he was deadly and Taehyung had learnt to not trust appearances too much. After all Jungkook looked perfectly amicable when he smiled if not for the dead eyes.

“If Lee Yoochun has been frequenting areas connected to Kim then I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on,” Jimin said, jumping right back into it again. “The stupid bastard is getting himself in hot water. It’s risky being seen around the Kim family right now, especially when he’s Jeon’s man. What it looks like to me is that Lee is planning on jumping ship.”

“Jimin, this could be the start of a beautiful partnership…” Taehyung muttered under his breath. When he turned to look away from the screen he saw that Jimin was looking at him too, and as their gazes settled on one another he gave him a wide smile.

It was the late evening hours by the time Jungkook stepped into the suite again. In that time Jimin had spent some time in the gym, had browsed various magazines and newspaper journals on his phone, and had been escorted around the block to take Wangbi for a walk with Taehyung. He was starting to greatly dislike the fact that he was constantly being escorted around but he knew that it was useless complaining about it all. It would all just fall on deaf ears anyway, and after what had happened to Woo he knew that he would be babysat for the foreseeable future, the knowledge of which was very depressing. So much for going to fashion shows and store openings like usual, so much for being allowed to breathe fresh air that didn’t come out of an open window without another man breathing down his neck.

These days Jimin felt like he was on a leash more often than his pet cat.

Jungkook entered the suite on his own, giving off an unsettled air the second that he stepped into the room. He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket and it was folded over his forearm, and his top two shirt buttons were already undone. His hair was messier than usual, the parting not as defined and a lock curled free over his brow like a comma. Jimin had been stroking Wangbi and listening to music playing lowly from the speakers across the suite, and at his arrival he grabbed the remote to turn the system off.

“I have a flight to catch tonight,” Jungkook explained before he could even ask him what was going on. “To Singapore.”

Jimin had never been to Singapore with him before. There were too many business affairs to handle in that country, never enough time for fun for the two of them. He had been taken to other places however, most of which had casinos and other forms of quality entertainment. Hong Kong, China, Hawaii, just several of the destinations that Jungkook had taken him to instead for a weekend of bliss. No, this trip to Singapore was very much going to be completely business-related and so he was once again delegated to be stuck in the penthouse suite like a housewife.

“Singapore?” Jimin asked in confusion, fingers ceasing their stroking in the cat’s fur. “What do you need to go to Singapore for, darling?” Jungkook crossed the room in the act of getting undressed, throwing his folded suit jacket into the dining table. Clearly he was in a rush for he knew that he was heading straight for the shower and a fresh change of clothes. Then he would start packing things away in preparation for the flight and leave him again.

“Business,” he explained, as if that wasn’t at all obvious. “At The Gold Monkey Casino, I have a very important meeting with daddy’s men there to discuss urgent issues at hand.”

“Is it…safe for you to leave the country right now, Kookie?” Jimin asked as he watched him unbuttoning his shirt. Jungkook paused in the act of popping one of the cuffs free and stared at him for a moment. Then he moved over to the bed and reached out to place a hand in his hair.

“Of course it is, babe, why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t know, but after what happened with Woo I think you should be careful. Very careful,” Jimin explained, feeling his fingers trailing down the back of his neck before shifting to cup his cheek. “There’s something going on in Haedogje Pa. You know it, even I know it, Kookie, I can feel something is wrong.”

“Babe, if a man even looked at in a way I didn’t like he would regret it. No one’s going to get close to me,” Jungkook explained. “I will have Taehyung with me at all times.”

Jimin knew why he had mentioned Taehyung of course. Taehyung knew how to handle a gun. It was Jungkook’s way of telling him that he was in safe hands without having to specify anything to do with guns and possibly risk worrying him. This knowledge didn’t make him feel better, in fact Jimin was pretty certain that it made him feel worse for his stomach did a horrible flip and he couldn’t help but shift on the bed uncomfortably.

“I know, I talked to Tae this morning when he was working and that’s why I know there’s something wrong,” he argued. “I just don’t think it’s wise to leave the country right now. Can’t you conference call them like usual? What’s so important that you need to see them in reality?”

“Babe, I can’t autopen official business documents. Look, I have to get ready but I’ll let you know when I land what’s going on. I promise.” Jungkook leaned forward and planted a kiss on his forehead before kissing him on the corner of his mouth. “Behave.”

“Mmm,” Jimin sighed the noise out and he watched him cross the suite to get to the stairs. Jungkook shrugged his shirt off and left it lying on the floor in a mess, just like always when he was in a rush.

Jimin shifted to lie back down on the bed and after a moment Wangbi shifted to lie across his ribs. Her weight was considerable and warm and he just stared up at his reflection on the ceiling rather than move to stroke her. The suite was filled with the sound of the shower and then footsteps as Jungkook moved around the bedroom, packing a suitcase for the trip. It didn’t take him too long to do so for the younger man was used to packing last minute. As soon as he was done he left again with nothing more than a final goodbye kiss and the sound of the door slamming shut. Jimin closed his eyes and stayed where he was for a few minutes, Wangbi lightly napping on his ribs. Then he gently moved her head onto the bed so that he could get to his feet and go over to the kitchen. What better way to spend his time alone than to grab a bottle of champagne and try his hardest to drink the entire thing single-handedly?

It was after several full glasses that Jimin suddenly decided that he didn’t want to stay in the penthouse suite. He was annoyed and slightly drunk and he wanted to go out and do something. He couldn’t spend the entire weekend lying around in a mood like this, a black fugue that made him want to curl up and not move until Jungkook returned again. Yet he had nothing to do, no one to see. He wouldn’t be allowed to go shopping at this hour even when quite a lot of stores would still be open because it would be too risky being out in the open. He had very little other places to go but he didn’t want to be cooped up in the suite for a minute longer. So he shifted to get out of bed and get dressed, slipping into a pair of fitted black trousers and a white shirt. After getting into a pair of loafers and shrugging a coat on he left the suite to get to the elevator. As the carriage descended he made up his mind about where he was going to go and when the doors pinged open he stepped out into the reception. At his arrival the bodyguards all turned to look at him, expressions confused and surprised in equal amounts.

“I’m going to the den in Yongsan-gu,” Jimin argued as he crossed the entrance area. “If you want to escort me, escort me. But I’m going and you can’t stop me.”

“Master Jeon advised against you leaving,” Dongjun remarked from behind the reception desk. Those stupid shades were ever present on his face and Jimin thought that the man must have thought he was a real gangster in them. Just like in the films. “He doesn’t think it’s wise for you to go out on your own right now.”

“Yes? Well Master Jeon isn’t here, is he?” he replied rather brusquely. Yet the two bouncers assigned for the night, Hongsuk and Woosang, moved from their positions across the room to block the door. Jimin stopped a few feet and studied the two men before sighing heavily. “What, am I locked up in this apartment block all weekend long like some modern day tower?”

“Afraid so, princess.”

“ Princess ?” Jimin whirled back around and glared right at Dongjun. At least the man had the sense to look slightly regretful under his withering gaze. “This ‘princess’ could have murdered right this instant, if I wanted it to happen. Siwoo and Daewoo follow my commands just as much as Master Jeon’s, they like me a lot. So I would shut your mouth you fucking idiot.” Behind his sunglasses Dongjun might just have dropped his eyes to stare at the desk. Mentioning the twin thugs was apt to do that to most men, they were like the perfect guard dogs. “Now, who wants to escort me?”

Jimin ended up being escorted across the capital with Woosang in tow. The man didn’t even attempt to start a conversation and instead the air in the car felt awkward and heavy. But Jimin didn’t care, he had got his way and that was all that mattered to him. He couldn’t even keep the smug smile off his face as some other chauffeur drove him to the drug den as he had requested. When they reached the building Jimin entered and did the usual routine, earning access to the back area with very little trouble. Woosang followed along after him like a good bodyguard-cum-puppy and he told him to wait behind rather than enter the office with him. The guard looked like he might argue against this but the offer of cards and booze from the other men finally won him over. Jimin waited in front of the office impatiently after knocking thrice on it and a few seconds later the door pulled open slowly.

“Good evening, Min,” Jimin said in a sweet tone, as if it wasn’t almost midnight and he had shown up without a single warning. “Can I come in?”

“You, uh, you ain’t supposed to be here,” Yoongi said, peeking at him through the gap in the door. He could see a single eye and a flash of messy blond hair through the gap, along with a black pullover. Jimin could sense that he didn’t want to let him into his office room for some reason but like that was going to stop him in the slightest.

“Oh? Just let me in, sweetie, no one needs to know,” Jimin said with a wide smile, turning the charm up to eleven as he did. Yet the other man didn’t seem to be affected by it. So Jimin moved to grab hold of the side of the door and he gave it a shove. The hard push knocked Yoongi back rather pathetically easy and allowed him to step into the room. The other man murmured something disapprovingly under his breath at this but didn’t tell him to leave. Yoongi paced over to his desk and starting ruffling his hair rather roughly and Jimin crossed the room to sit on a rather battered settee against one of the walls. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Yoongi said in a rather sarcastic tone. He stopped messing with his hair and instead played with the loose cuffs of his pullover. Jimin noticed that he wasn’t wearing pants but that was of no surprise to him. Yoongi never seemed to wear pants because he was always working. There was a rather large bruise on one of his knees, a brownish circle with splotches of purple inside it. “Honestly, you ain’t supposed to be here Hon-Jimin. You’re Jimin, right?” Jimin nodded in agreement as he placed one knee over the other and settled down comfortably on the settee. “Master Jeon’d be mad if he knew you were here, it’s dangerous. There’s lots of drugs here.”

“So I’ve been told. A hundred times already but I don’t care,” he sighed and glanced over the office. “Min, I need something to relax me.”

“…Did you use all of the Valium I supplied already?” the other man asked in dumb surprise. Jimin shook his head and explained that he wanted something new, something different. “Uh, you ever smoked this shit, huh?” Yoongi asked as he pulled a drawer open and retrieved something. After a few seconds of rustling noises he pulled out a small plastic baggie. Jimin saw that it contained several joints and he shook his head in reply. He had never tried marijuana before but he would be willing to try it. “Well, it’ll relax you just right.”

“Good.”

Yoongi opened the baggie and reached inside to pull one of the joints free. He dropped the baggie without a care on his desk and retrieved a lighter, a basic wheel lighter that was bright toxic orange. Then he crossed the office to stand in front of him, holding the joint out for him. Jimin leaned over to grab it between his teeth rather than take it out his fingers with his own.

“You get one on the house ‘cos of Master Jeon,” Yoongi explained as he ran his thumb over the lighter wheel and held up it to light the end for him. “Just uh, don’t keep coming here for free weed, yeah?” Jimin made a noise around the joint as he took his first toke. The instant instinct that hit him was to start coughing because the smoke was hot and almost itched his throat and lungs but he managed to not choke on it. He scrunched his face up and the other man laughed at him heartily.

“Shit,” Jimin pulled the stick free and breathed the smoke out in a series of coughs. “That’s disgusting.”

“So, why’re you here again?” Yoongi asked as he went back over to his desk and shoved the baggie away. Jimin dropped his gaze to study his behind as he leaned over the wood, studying his rather thin and pale thighs. He wondered if Jungkook had ever noticed Yoongi’s twink potential before and then found himself wondering what his position would be. He had just settled on needy power bottom when he realised that Yoongi was staring at him. Talk about caught in the act.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I asked why’re you here?” Yoongi repeated, tugging down on the ends of his pullover to try and cover his thighs with it.

“Oh, I wanted to talk to someone but…I have no one to talk to,” Jimin explained as he took a quick toke off the joint. “Jungkook and Tae are away for business, in Singapore for two or so days. I’m stuck here with no one other than Wangbi for company.” At this he saw Yoongi furrowing his brow. “She’s my cat.”

“Oh? Cat. I like cats.” The other man shifted to sit on the edge of his desk, arms folded over his chest. “They’re nice.”

“Have you ever met Woo before?” Jimin asked, taking another experimental toke on the end of the joint. He still thought that is tasted disgusting but there was a nice sensation coming from it, making him feel more relaxed than he had a moment ago. There was a slight lightheaded sensation but he thought that that would pass, or he hoped that it would. “Jungkook’s old business partner?”

“Uh yeah, yeah,” Yoongi replied, fiddling with the cuff of his pullover rather fidgety. “A few times when I was a teen I met him, and once or twice I’ve seen him with Master Jeon. Strange guy.”

“You think?” Jimin raised his eyebrows at this, blowing the lungful of acrid smoke out of the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, real strange,” the blond man agreed with a nod. “He just has this air coming off him. Like a psychopath. Not a violent psycho just…dead inside.” Yoongi made a series of noises under his breath and then lifted his gaze to look at him. “Freaks me the fuck out man, dead eyed like a fish.”

“Had, you mean. He had those vibes coming off him. He’s dead now.” Jimin ran his tongue around his mouth, tongue feeling drier than usual. “Someone wanted him dead. He and several other Haedogje Pa men were all shot dead in a business meeting for daddy dearest across the capital. Jungkook was supposed to be in that meeting too but he moved it aside. Said he had work to do. I don’t know what but he made Woo go there instead. I was away that weekend and I didn’t have a fucking clue.” Jimin sighed and shifted to lounge back on the settee. “That could have been Jungkook that night, riddled with bullets. He could be lying in a body bag right now and yet he isn’t. That…those thoughts kind of scare me, you know?”

“Holy shit…” Yoongi muttered under his breath at this, fingers stopping their fiddling for a few seconds as he stared at him. “You’re kidding me, right?” Jimin shook his head at this, taking another toke on the joint. Now it was starting to make him feel better, lighter almost. “Why’re you scared? Scared for yourself or scared ‘cos Master Jeon’s in danger?”

“Both, I guess? The moment Jungkook goes, I go,” he explained as he opened his eyes and stared at the office ceiling. There were dots starting to move around the white plaster, fuzzy little dots. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that many Haedogje Pa men would want me as their bitch. Imagine the bragging rights, “Master Jeon’s favourite toy is mine now”. Mmm, but I’m second-hand goods.” Jimin sighed and dabbed ash off the end of the joint onto the floor without a care.

“Y’know, you gotta stop equating yourself as like…nothing more than a body, Jimin,” Yoongi said as he pulled the pitiful joint stub out from between his fingers and held it up to his own lips. “You’re like, so much more than that. Yeah?”

What the fuck did Yoongi know about him other than the fact he collected drugs for Jungkook? He probably knew that he fucked men for a living too, talk about a stellar example of being more than a body. The remark was actually enough to make him snort laughter and he saw the other man raising his eyebrows in surprise.

“I’ve been nothing more than a body since I was seven fucking years old, Min, it’s hard to not equate myself as something different,” Jimin argued, not meaning to sound so brusque with his reply but unable to curb himself. Yoongi studied him intently at this, joint still hovering in front of his lips untouched. “It’s all I’ve ever been good for.”

“Nah, don’t say that shit,” Yoongi disagreed as he finally took a toke. He breathed it out a few seconds later, nose and eyes scrunching up slightly as he did. “You start saying that shit - thinking that shit, and then you’ll start believing it too. I bet that you mean more than a body to Master Jeon, in fact I know that you do.”

“Oh? How do you know that?”

“I…just do - hey uh, what’d you think about that other guy? Kim?” Yoongi dodged his question spectacularly, eyes shifting across the room as he did.

“Mmm, I like him,” Jimin said with a nod. “I like him a lot he…he actually-” he reached up to cover his mouth with his hand, fighting the urge to giggle. He couldn’t stop a snort from escaping however. “This morning…he ate my ass out.” Yoongi stared down at him for a moment, clearly a little slow with his reactions. Then he started choking on his lungful of smoke and the sight of the cloud escaping from his mouth and nose was what made Jimin start laughing. He couldn’t help it, the giggles just flooded up from his stomach and he had to let them out somehow.

“Shit, too much info, man. Too much info.” Yoongi waved his hand in front of his face to dispel the cloud of smoke. Jimin pressed his lips together to try and suppress the giggles, feeling his body shaking as he did. “He’s uh, that Kim guy’s strange too. I dunno, I think he’s strange.”

“What? Strange like what?” he asked him, the occasional breathless giggle escaping between his words.

“Dunno man,” Yoongi took a deep toke off the end of the joint and held it in his lungs for a few seconds before breathing it out. “I get vibes off him too. Don’t you?”

“No, no I like Tae. He’s an amazing worker, does everything that Jungkook asks him to and more.” Jimin wet his lips again and as he watched the smoke float to the air he was certain that the colours changed, from grey to blue to bright pink. “He’s good, he’s nice.”

“Mmm, well Master Jeon picked him,” Yoongi said after a moment of thought. “Pretty sure he can read guys better than I can.”

“Min?”

“You can call me Yoongi, y’know? Min was my old man not me, I ain’t like him.” He breathed another lungful of smoke out the corner of his mouth. “I’ll never be like him.”

“Yoongi, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do if I lose Jungkook. I can’t get out, I’m stuck in Haedogje Pa for life. I’ve got nothing, I don’t even have a fucking identity anymore. I can’t just get out and do something else. I’m fucking stuck.” Jimin started gnawing on his lower lip and Yoongi seemed to find studying the end of his joint much more interesting than holding his gaze. “I’m fucking stuck in this endless spiral of suh-sex and I can’t get out.”

“…Jimin, just say the word and I promise I’ll find a way to keep you safe if anything happens to Master Jeon.” Yoongi held the joint up to his lips and then he added. “I’ve got connections, I owe Master Jeon a good couple of favours. I could do it, just let me know. But nothing’s gonna happen so don’t worry; yeah? Master Jeon’ll be fine.” He took a final toke and then stubbed the joint out on the settee beside his thigh. “Shit, I’m hungry. Want some Chinese? I know a great takeaway place like a block down from here. Their egg foo yung is like the greatest thing I’ve ever had in my mouth. Let’s just eat and get stoned and forget about all of the bad shit, yeah? Totally on the house.”

Jimin had very little else to do for the next two or so days. Why not get stoned and eat greasy and salty food until he wanted to vomit? Hell, he could probably get one of Jungkook’s men to bring Wangbi to him, let Yoongi meet her and see if he found her cute. Two days without Jungkook or Taehyung, two days that would have revolved around draining bottles of champagne and likely crying himself to sleep. Or two days with Yoongi and some drugs, some potential for fun? So he shifted to sit upright and sighed heavily.

“Are you sure nothing will happen to him?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Well, I ain’t psychic Jimin,” Yoongi retorted with a rather wheezy guffaw. Nice, he liked that laugh. It was somewhat strange but endearing. “But Master Jeon’s got Kim right? He’ll be fine now, what about that Chinese, huh?”

Chapter Text

Taehyung had never been to Singapore before. He had been to a few foreign countries as a child and young teen, never for more than a few days because that had been all that his parents had been able to afford. A short trip to Japan aged seven, to Sapporo for the annual snow festival, a weekend in Thailand to visit family living there every few years and once even a trip to New Zealand that he had greatly loved. He had fond memories of those trips because they had still been enjoyable regardless of the short amount of time. A treat that had been more than enough for his childish attention span. But he had never been to Singapore. He knew the country’s main attraction was business and that was very much the reason that his family had never chosen it as a holiday destination. There was no doubt in his mind that that was what he and Jungkook were travelling there for tonight. Business, very important business at that. Jungkook wasn’t very specific about what was going on during the flight, rather he just kept telling him that he had urgent business contracts to alter for his father and himself. Taehyung had some knowledge on Haedogje Pa assets in Singapore and with that knowledge he figured this out to mean The Gold Monkey casino of course. There was nothing else of enough importance to warrant this kind of reaction that he could recall. The joint-owned casino that belonged to Jeon and Kim was the most important thing and the fact that Kim Jinwoo currently had a large stake in it meant something. But a large stake and technical ownership aside the casino was Haedogje Pa and that meant that it belonged to Jungkook more than him by right of heirdom. Nursing a glass of whiskey and seated in the aisle seat to not be near the window, Taehyung finally decided to settle with his initial hunch of what this trip was for.

Jungkook was serving up an immediate termination of Jinwoo’s power and influence in the country by altering the contract. Jinwoo had done fucked up it would seem and he was going to find himself minus a very important asset within twelve or so hours time. The kind of asset that must have brought billions of won into the empire every year alone and would most certainly fatten up a wallet with interest and investments. Taehyung couldn’t think of a worse thing to lose in terms of monopoly because the casino was one of the most prolific that he was aware of. Yet because of Jinwoo’s fuck up he was going to lose it and it was going to presumably go straight to Jungkook instead.

Taehyung knew that he could be wrong but it was one of the first things that came to mind. If he were seated at his department desk back in Yongsan-gu and not thousands of feet in the air in a private plane then it would have been the first thought to come to mind. Everything else seemed to be rather minor in comparison, the kind of business matters that could be settled via a conference call and autopen signings of PDF documents instead. All he truly knew was that this was very important and a contract termination was most certainly not the thing to be sorted out over webcams and computer screens.

“Jungkook?”

At his voice Jungkook turned his attention away from the window to look at him. Already outside the sky and clouds were starting to lighten but Taehyung wouldn’t dare look out of it to see anything more. It was way too high for him, he didn’t want to see the sea below them and suddenly find he couldn’t breathe very well. If he had to guess he would guess that it was edging closer to dawn now, now that they had been in the air for nearly four hours. He felt rather tired and yet the younger man looked as alert as always. Was that the result of pure adrenaline or maybe something like a secretive snort of cocaine before leaving the apartment block? Jungkook raised an eyebrow at him languidly, telling him to continue talking and so Taehyung placed the glass on table in front of them and shifted his his seat to fix his jacket and look more professional.

“I collected the documents from Seokjin like requested and uh, and analysed ‘em,” he explained. “But I needed some assistance.” At this he saw Jungkook studying him intently, no doubt wondering what the hell he was talking about. “I didn’t know that the files would be encrypted but Jimin showed me how to read ‘em properly.”

“He did?”

“Yeah he did, he’s smart Jungkook.” Taehyung nodded at him to reaffirm this point. “Without his help I’d still be trying to figure it all out right now and all it was was a fucking formatting technique. Lim never taught me about any of that, I never needed to know that shit working with his documents. I looked like an idiot.”

“OK, so talk,” Jungkook instructed as he shifted to fold one leg over the other comfortably. “Tell me what you know.”

“Lee Yoochun’s doing all kinds of backhand deals, deals with men that your father most certainly wouldn’t want to see him associating with. Jimin identified several buildings and streets with me and we managed to get a few names, all you really need to know is he’s sidling over to Kim Jinwoo and turning his back to both you and your father.”

“Just like Ahn.”

“Yeah, we’re talking receipts for transactions between both Lee and Kim’s parties mostly from what I can read. But not open transactions, more like cash being wired from accounts that Lee isn’t aware we know of. But the sightings are something substantial too.” Taehyung paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “He’s switching sides and that means a great many other men will too. Men that are local to him, loyal to him for some fucking reason. Even when he’s a backstabbing son of a bitch.”

“We lose men but we also gain them, Taehyung, that’s the rules of this game. Sometimes you only lose the pawns, sometimes you lose the more important pieces but at the end of the day…they’re all just fucking pawns to me. So you found all of this out because of Jimin’s assistance?” Jungkook asked and the beginning hints of a smirk started to appear on his lips. When he nodded it actually opened up in a smile as he reached over to pick up his glass of whiskey and take a deep sip. After letting it settle on his tongue for a few seconds he swallowed. “He deserves a reward, don’t you think?”

“I uh, I already rewarded him,” he explained in a quiet voice. For a few seconds Jungkook just looked at him, glass hovering in front of his lips and eyes wide. Then he put the glass down with a barely suppressed snort of laughter. “He also gave me the photos, of Woo, y’know?” Taehyung added to quickly change topic. He didn’t want to start talking about how he had ended up with his tongue inside the other man in case Jungkook suddenly had some fun ideas. Joining the mile high club wasn’t exactly a personal goal of his and he thought there was a strong chance that Jungkook was already a member. “Holy shit, did you look at ‘em? Fucking chaos, Jungkook. I can’t believe that they got him like that.”

“Woo? Hmm, that was a shame actually. Woo was a great businessman and ally but he just never got his hands dirty. Highly ironic that he ended up being hit, all things considered.” Jungkook shifted in his seat, placing one folded up arm on the armrest so that he could rest his chin on the back of his fingers. The position looked contemplative, reflective almost.

“You think it was supposed to be you?” Taehyung asked rather bluntly, seeing no need to edge around the question now. Blunt words were the only way to speak to the other man, Jungkook wasn’t a great fan of metaphors and roundabout speech. He liked business, and he was starting to find that he liked the simplicity too.

“Undoubtedly,” Jungkook agreed with a soft nod. His expression didn’t even budge in the slightest, showing no fear. “How unfortunate for the fuckers that did it that I’m still breathing.”

The flight stretched into the very beginnings of the morning, sun already rising on the horizon by the time they were leaving the airport to climb into the back of a hired car. It wasn’t a Mitsubishi Dignity of course but rather the typical for-hire Mercedes-Benz S-Class, one with a cream interior rather than the black of Jungkook’s old custom job. From the airport they headed straight to a hotel in which to rest and get ready for the evening. Riding up the glass elevator built into the side of the towering building to get to the penthouse suite Taehyung found that he had to turn his back to the view and instead stare at Jungkook. The mere thought of looking down more than three stories was enough to have his legs shaking and the carriage just kept on ascending. Knowing the height of this hotel it really would be like looking down from the heavens and he didn’t want to collapse and look weak. Not after the shit he had seen. Being up so high and reeling from it seemed rather pathetic considering how high he currently was because of the other man.

“Feeling scared?” Jungkook asked with a smirk as he kept his eyes glued to the glass carriage wall. He was probably enjoying the view outside, after all he had told him how much he loved heights. But how much he also hated those pesky little ants.

“Just a little…” he retorted as he looked away and stared at the wall instead.

The hotel suite was nothing in comparison to the penthouse back in Gangnam-gu but it was still massive. The interior was a mixture of cream walls, maple wooden flooring and glass, it was most certainly luxurious. The kind of suite he looked at and instantly thought of as ‘the honeymoon suite’. But he didn’t really care much for luxury when the bed called to him so strongly. Taehyung collapsed on it, barely doing much more than removing his shoes by the door because he was much too tired to undress properly. When he pressed his face against the mound of pillows and closed his eyes he heard clicking sounds coming from across the suite and he lifted his head to see that Jungkook was calling someone, pressing the buttons quickly and with a confidence that showed he knew the number well.

“Who’re you calling?” Taehyung asked sleepily as he watched him hold the receiver against his ear. The pillow under his head smelled like detergent, the cotton fragrant with something floral that could have been lily.

“Jimin, just to please him,” Jungkook replied. “He didn’t want us coming to Singapore.” He asked him why not whilst the younger man listened to the dial tone and waited for Jimin to pick up. “He thought that it was dangerous for us to leave the country after what happened to Woo and-” he pulled the phone away from his ear for a second to check the screen and then held it against his ear again, “mmm, must have drank too much champagne. I will have to leave a message for him to check when he wakes up again.”

Drank too much champagne? Either that or downed one too many Valium and drugged himself to sleep in what seemed like a regular occurrence. Taehyung hadn’t really thought about Jimin since boarding the plane but the knowledge that the other man hadn’t wanted them to come to this country was somewhat…strange. Almost caused a shiver to travel down his spine even though he didn’t really know why. Why would Jimin be so concerned about a simple business deal? Did Jimin also think that the Woo incident was a failed attempt on Jungkook’s life and he was scared that it might just mean that there would be another attempt?

Taehyung must have fallen asleep listening to him talking to the answering machine, telling his ‘babe’ that they had touched down in the country and that everything was fine. The next thing he knew he was being gently being shaken awake at 7pm to find that he needed to get ready to leave to go to the casino. There was a pressed suit from his travel bag already hanging on a screen across the suite in preparation and so he hurried into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

As Taehyung slipped into the white shirt he wondered what was going on in Seoul right now. What Jimin was doing; what his team were doing. It was strange being so far from the other country and not knowing. He considered calling Jimin or messaging him because he had his private number but decided to not do so, not wanting to disturb him. Jungkook had already done that several hours earlier and so he just settled on getting dressed instead. The view out of the stretch of windows showed a dark skyline already lit up by countless buildings like stars and it was strange not looking out and seeing the usual pink winter morning sky and the rising sun that he was used to. No tall rectangle block apartments but rather towers that seemed to be twice the size; rippling sheets of glass and metal that looked more futuristic and modern to his eyes. There wasn’t a single traditional building in sight, rather just neat roads fringed with patches of greenery, and he could see two bridges packed with fast moving traffic rolling over a stretch of water. A beautiful city no doubt, made even more beautiful by the warmer weather currently on offer.

Jungkook stepped back into the main area mostly dressed, in the act of shrugging a suit jacket on. It was a dark charcoal grey rather than black for once so that it wouldn’t clash with the turtleneck that he was wearing instead of a shirt. Black wool, maybe cashmere. It was strange seeing him not wearing a black suit and white shirt like always - Jungkook seemed to live in that look - and so Taehyung could only stare at him as he crossed the suite. Strange but pleasant, he looked good. Really good in fact.

“Any particular reason why you’re staring at me, Taehyung?”

“Clothes,” he remarked rather flatly as he finishing zipping his trousers up and gestured at him. “It’s strange seeing you wear clothes like that.”

“Can hardly walk around naked now can I?” he retorted as he fixed the jacket lapels, smoothing them down and ensuring that there was no lint stuck to the fabric. “I would prefer you did so rather than wear anything white, you know I don’t like you in that colour.”

“Yeah, well Jimin does and he kinda-” Taehyung stepped into his loafers and then started fastening the shirt cuffs up, “bought me a bunch of shirts as a gift so I’ve gotta wear ‘em. They’re nice Jungkook, I like ‘em. Besides, you’re just wearing that ‘cos you can’t tie a tie.” At his words Jungkook reached up to fiddle with the turtleneck, pulling at it here and there almost in a fidgeting manner.

“I can tie a tie,” he argued as he moved to stand in front of him. Taehyung was still buttoning the top of his shirt up and so he reached over to grab the tie from the screen and draped it around his neck. He lifted the shirt collar up to slip it into place, raising an eyebrow challengingly at him. “Who told you I can’t?”

“Jimin.”

“Well I can,” Jungkook muttered as he grabbed hold of the black silk and studied his shirt collar for a moment. Then he looped the fabric around. “Watch.”

“…Christ Jungkook,” Taehyung remarked as he watched him pitifully attempt to knot the tie. He kept wrapping it around and yet seemed to not know how to thread it through the loop and tighten it. Jungkook stopped and let go of the tie so that it would untangle, grabbing the ends to try it again. Taehyung couldn’t help but start laughing at his failed attempts because it was like watching a child.

“Are you laughing at me?” Jungkook asked and for a few seconds his expression and tone were frightfully stern. But then Taehyung saw the corners of his lips twitching and a few seconds later he was laughing softly under his breath too. “I give up, you do it.”

“Honestly, Jungkook, it’s pretty fucking simple,” Taehyung said as he reached up start knotting his tie instead. It took him just a few seconds to do so and he saw that Jungkook was watching him intently as he did, no doubt trying to learn from him even though it would be useless and he would need him or Jimin to do it again next time he required his tie knotting. He briefly wondered if he could tie shoelaces before pushing the thought away as he pulled the knot up to the top of the collar.

“No, no forget the tie I don’t like it,” Jungkook remarked as he flapped his hand at him. Taehyung had just finished securing it in place and he had a feeling that that was why he had told him to remove it, just to be a nuisance. So he reached up to run his hand down the silk and asked him why. “Because I want to pull on it,” he explained as he gently knocked his hand aside, “like this.”

Taehyung felt his fingers snagging around the length of the tie and then he pulled on it hard. The knot tightened and forced him to let the younger man pull him forward. Instinctively he reached out and he felt his palms brushing against his waist to try and stop himself from stumbling and headbutting him.

“It’s very distracting…” Jungkook’s voice was whisper soft, husky and alluring. Taehyung felt his breath on his skin and he would have held his held his gaze had he not been staring at his lips so intently.

Jungkook pressed several light kisses against his mouth, rather daintily. Then he opened his mouth and kissed him properly, deeply. He reached up to start unknotting his tie for him, fingers tugging and twisting until he managed to untangle the knot. Taehyung felt it loosening around his throat again and then it was being dropped onto the floor. Jungkook’s lips tasted rather sweet against his tongue and he was certain that he tasted balm: raspberry.

“I can see your skin,” Jungkook said against his lips, teeth snagging and releasing them teasingly, “and it’s nothing. But a tie, shit Taehyung, it drives me crazy.” He popped the top two buttons of his shirt open for him and then moved his face to nuzzle against his throat. “I can’t do business thinking about you, hmm?”

“That would be a bad idea,” Taehyung agreed as Jungkook’s arms moved to fold around his neck. The change in position allowed him to press their bodies close, maddeningly close.

“As much as the thought of you blowing me during a meeting excites me, this is too public.” Jungkook rubbed his nose against his neck before shifting with a heavy sigh and pulling his head away. “Can’t afford to get arrested for public indecency in front of hundreds of people. A dozen men in a private meeting would be fine.”

Taehyung held his gaze even when he felt his cheeks starting to redden. He had long learned to read between the lines and he knew what he was saying. Maybe today that can’t happen but in the future it can…and will. In fact he was willing to bet that the next personal business meeting they would be in together he would end up on his knees under the table with his cock in his mouth.

“Come, we have business matters to settle.”

They left the hotel together via the elevator, riding down the massive building to get to the ground-floor. Just like yesterday there was a hired car waiting for them on the curb and Taehyung saw that it was the same driver too. He didn’t know the man’s name but he guessed that it wasn’t important. He just settled down against the backseat and watched the views of the city go past the window in a blur of neon lights and flashing signs. He felt the weight of Jungkook’s palm settling on his knee just like always, and it stayed there for the entire duration of the car ride. After a nearly twenty minute long ride Taehyung saw a building drawing closer, standing out in a packed square filled with stores and restaurants, and he knew that it was their destination.

If it wasn’t clear why the casino had the name ‘The Gold Monkey’ it was upon first glance at the exterior of the building. Seated right above the neon red sign, which were in English characters, there was a large monkey statue. Taehyung was pretty sure the statue was cast iron and covered in layers of gilded gold so that it shone in the glowing lights of the casino signs. It was sitting with its legs tucked up in front of it, both hands resting on its knees. The face of the statue showed a wide and rather terrifying grin and its eyes seemed to look down on everyone entering like a strange guardian. Because of the neon signs the glass building walls looked to be a mixture of red and blue and purple. Taehyung couldn’t read all of the signs for he saw they were in various languages, unusual characters he had never seen before.

The casino was quite simply something else. Truthfully Taehyung had only ever stepped inside a single casino before and that one had been the online job, Seokjin’s business within the large concrete block building. It was certainly interesting seeing how it operated, with the live tellers, rows and rows of monitors and countless wires. But there was a clear difference between the two, one that made perfect sense to him. Back home in Korea most forms of gambling were illegal unless government-sponsored, which Haedogje Pa gambling dens and casinos most certainly weren’t. That meant that the online syndicate needed to hidden away to avoid arousing suspicion and couldn’t really be a grand place. However here in Singapore the casino could be open, loud and proud, and it was most certainly all of those things.

They walked through the revolving glass doors to step inside and Taehyung saw that the interior was just as grand as the exterior, so much glass, gilded gold and wooden and carpeted flooring. The casino was packed with people, easily several hundred tourists and locals filling it up and making the air ripple with endless waves of conversations, languages and cheers. The scent of perfumes and colognes should have been cloying in the air but mostly it was the scent of various alcohols and wines that his nose detected. At the front of the casino there was a massive ground-floor seating area, filled with leather settees and glass table tops, places for guests to sit and mingle whilst visiting. On either side of this area Taehyung saw several counters at which it seemed that people could exchange chips, ask for assistance and much more. Signs placed all over the joint claimed that the workers were all bilingual and could offer much assistance, from Malay and Mandarin, to Cantonese and English, and lastly Japanese, Korean and Thai. He saw that a lot of the workers were female just like Seokjin’s workers except these women didn’t wear evening gowns but rather uniforms. Proper uniforms with high necklines and pencil skirts or trousers, sensible low heels on their feet and hair pulled back neatly. Beside a few of these counters there were ATM machines and he even saw an exchange counter nestled in the corner for cheques and cash to be changed into the right currency. There were armed security beside all of these machines and counters just to make sure no one tried to rob anyone.

Taehyung could see their ear pieces and radios strapped to their belts, and under their armpits they no doubt had gun holsters. He didn’t know if that was allowed but every man he sighted looked to be packing a handgun judging from their postures and no one seemed to bat an eyelid at this. It also meant that he didn’t need to worry about the fact they too were packing, seen as they were allowed through the entrance without a search. Jungkook had told him that Jimin had been worried about this business trip but seeing the amount of armed security around was very reassuring, would likely put him at more ease.

Beyond the massive sitting area he saw more of the casino: an endless stretch of poker and roulette tables, rows and rows of jackpot machines stretching back for what seemed like a mile. He noted that the interior walls of the casino were also made of glass and highly reflective, therefore casting an illusion that the joint really was vast. The sound of electronic beeps and voices all mingled together to create a rather overpowering level of noise. To get through to the tables and machines they would need to walk under a rather expansive balcony that was winged by twin staircases but he knew that they would be going up those stairs rather than across the building. Just under the jutting balcony there was a long stretch of bar counter, clearly not the only one in the building. Taehyung knew that there would be another on the first-floor and likely an array of smaller ones in the private rooms that branched out from the main gambling area. There must have been a dozen or more serving waiters and waitresses carrying trays of champagne flutes alone back and forth across the joint and that wasn’t counting the ones with appetisers in hand. There was a set of batwing doors that led into a back kitchen that they were all pushing through to enter and exit the main area. Simply put the casino was like nothing Taehyung had ever seen before and he wasn’t at all surprised to feel Jungkook reaching over to grab hold of his elbow and steer him in the right direction. After all he had been surprised by the sight of a hotel back in Seoul and clearly Jungkook knew how much he was in awe at the sight of this casino.

“Holy shit,” Taehyung said under his breath. It was all that he really needed to say and he saw Jungkook’s lips curling up at the corners in agreement. The younger man guided him around the sitting area and when Taehyung lifted his gaze up to the balcony he saw a man standing up there, the man that they were clearly here to see.

“Master Jeon~” The man standing up on the balcony lifted both hands up as he spoke, holding them out in a sign of welcoming as he looked down at them. Taehyung saw a wide smile on his face and his initial feeling coming off the man was that of warmth. A trustworthy man, one that knew Jungkook well from what he could tell. “I have been expecting you.”

“Of course you have, Seng,” Jungkook called up at him. Taehyung saw his expression shifting into that professional businessman smile of his as he was gently pulled in the direction of the stairs. He let Jungkook go up them first and followed him up onto the first-floor. There was a glass table close to the balcony, either side of which were two long black leather settees. Standing behind the opposite side of the table were three men, clearly bodyguards rather than business men. Taehyung could tell from their frames and postures, hands folded on their stomachs and eyes boring into him unblinkingly.

“It has been some time,” Seng said and when Jungkook gave the older man a deep bow at the waist Taehyung copied his gesture. The man was clearly important if he warranted a bow from Jungkook, who had once told him to never bow to another man. Or perhaps he was just being polite because they were guests in both the casino and the company. “You look to be growing bigger by the day.” Taehyung noted that though Seng’s Korean was very good he still had a slightly stilted way of speaking. Very rigid, a sign of great experience but little flexibility for slang.

“I’m my father’s height now,” Jungkook replied as he unbuttoned his suit jacket and moved to stand in front of the settee. “I shall soon defeat him however.”

“In height yes, but in strength and wisdom?” Seng asked before giving him a rather wry expression. “Come, sit down and let’s start business.” The older man sat down and Jungkook copied his actions but Taehyung stayed standing behind the settee for it seemed more fitting for his position. “We have much to discuss.”

“That we do, Seng.”

“The documents,” Seng announced as he lifted the file up from the table and held it up. Taehyung eyed it for a moment before glancing at Jungkook. “Inside are both copies, one that shall be retained by us and one that shall be retained by you. Please read it carefully and ensure that it is exactly the agreement we settled in our conference with your father, Master Jeon.”

Jungkook accepted the file from him, one hand taking hold and the other placed under his elbow respectfully as pulled it out of his hand and placed it down on the table. Taehyung watched him open the file and there were a series of papers inside it. Business contracts and documents that he needed to read and sign. At least they were jumping right into business rather than fucking around, he much preferred this quick and sharp way of handling affairs. So Taehyung moved to stand right beside the balcony, placing a hand on the glass railing. The sight down below was much more interesting and he watched the other people moving like the gentle ebb and flow of the tide. So many different colours: skin, hair, clothing; so many exotic-sounding words floating up to his ears like music. For several minutes Jungkook was silent as he looked over the documents thoroughly but then he broke it.

“The planned year of my succession isn’t 2018, Seng,” Jungkook explained, “but rather the very moment that I am needed to take the position.” Taehyung turned to look back over his shoulder at them both, curious by what he meant by that.

“Of course, of course, Master Jeon.” Seng gave them both a smile and Taehyung could see perfect dentures on display. After all the man must have been old enough to be Jungkook’s grandfather. “We had a year drawn up in preparation just like your father’s contract because it is a more stable foundation for investments to be withdrawn and reinstated. I trust you have discussed the matter thoroughly with him to have this issue sorted?”

“I have,” he agreed, “and it was his decision to change the contract from that of a shareholder to a beneficial owner. I can sign this today but issue an amendment in the clause.”

“I can fix the clause. Is your father well these days, Master Jeon?” Seng asked in a joint curious and empathetic tone. “Is he suffering from ailments of any kind?”

“My father is the very picture of health,” Jungkook replied as he carried on scanning the contract. Taehyung saw his eyes moving rapidly as he checked every word meticulously.

“Then why does he require such an urgent amendment to the contract beyond beneficiary ownership?” Seng asked as he looked between them both. Taehyung held his gaze for a moment before turning back to the balcony and looking across the ground-floor. He didn’t really know why Jeon wanted such an alteration to the contract but he had an idea.

“My father wants to ensure that Haedogje Pa is fully prepared for every and any possible scenario,” Jungkook explained as he collected the pen off the table.

What that meant in simple terms was Jeon’s untimely death of course.

Taehyung was in the act of tracking a serving waiter down below when a sudden flash of something caught the corner of his eye. It was a second or so of what seemed like blinding light that made him squint in confusion before it was gone again. He furrowed his brow and lifted his gaze up to scan the other sides of the balcony that ran the length of the first floor. He saw mostly small groupings of people here and there, flutes or squared glasses in hand as they all talked amongst each other. What had that light been exactly? Taehyung knew that it wasn’t something reflecting back into his eyes, like a glint from the jeweled wrists of the women. It had been blinding, had almost hurt from the intensity. His first thought had been a laser pointer toy though he was at a loss to figure out why he had thought that.

“Master Jeon, your father’s investments and inheritance are safe in our hands like they have been his entire life and his father’s before him,” Seng said. “In the case of an scenario you can assure that our company will act entirely in your interests. Now, to discuss the pressing matter of Kim…” Taehyung turned to look back over at the other man and that was when he saw something very strange.

There was a little dot hovering around the wall just above Jungkook’s head.

The unmistakable red dot of a gun sight.

Taehyung felt his legs moving before his brain even had time to really register what he was doing, before he could even open his mouth and try to shout something; anything. He saw Jungkook turning his head to look in his direction but the younger man didn’t manage to do so for he dived across the settee and knocked him sprawling off it and onto the floor. Taehyung almost felt the air rippling over his head and there was a loud punching sound as a bullet buried itself in a wall instead.

He heard Jungkook cursing in confusion, trapped under his weight and pinned in place. He didn’t want to move and instead he forced the younger man down onto the floor so that he couldn’t try and shove him free, the settee offering them some protection. It was one of Seng’s men that returned fire first, or at least he thought that it was. Taehyung heard a loud and rapid spray of gunfire and then the air was filled with the sound of screams and shattering glass as all hell broke loose.

“Shit, shit-” he couldn’t help but grab at the younger man’s face roughly, “are you OK?!” It was a stupid question because he could see that he was. With the exception of his now messed up hair and suit jacket Jungkook was perfectly fine because he had tackled him just in time. If not either one of them would have now been missing a great deal of their skull. It briefly crossed Taehyung’s mind that he had avoided being shot in the back of the head by mere seconds by diving in the way like that but such thoughts didn’t seem that important right now.

“What the fuck?!” Jungkook asked as he stared up at him. He looked very confused by this sudden predicament and Taehyung wasn’t at all surprised by this fact; all wide eyed and gawping. “What’s happening?!”

“Someone-” there was another loud punching sound as a series of bullets buried themselves in the wall just a few feet above their heads, “just tried to fucking kill you.” Jungkook furrowed his brow at this, still very much trying to catch up with him. “We gotta get outta here, Jungkook.”

“But the transaction…”

Taehyung shifted to look at the table and he saw the rather unsettling sight of Seng slumped forward onto the table and two of his men on the floor. The third man was several feet away taking shelter behind a marble support beam, gun drawn as he quickly glanced around it to locate whoever had opened fire. Clearly he had been mistaken and the sound of gunshots had not been from their end but rather their attacker. Or attackers. Taehyung stared at the sight of blood steadily dripping down the edge of the table onto the plush cream carpet from Seng’s bullet wound. The documents were quite simply ruined and of no use to them now there was another man’s brains all over them.

“The fuck did you see?!” Taehyung called to the man across the floor, hoping that he could speak a lick of Korean. He couldn’t and rather babbled something at them quickly in another tongue. Taehyung looked down at the younger man and hoped that he understood him or they were fucked. For a moment Jungkook didn’t say anything, just listened to the man speak.

“Shooter on…on the same floor, dead. But there are more men in the building or maybe…maybe getting into the building,” Jungkook translated, brow furrowed as eyes moving from side to side as he did. “They’re making their way across and through the building, armed, opening fire regardless of civilians to eliminate security personnel.”

“OK, ground-floor. We’ve gotta get onto the ground-floor.” Taehyung got off him and seized hold of Jungkook’s wrist and elbow, practically dragging him along the floor. The younger man protested at this and pulled himself free, the pair of them still hunkered down behind the slight coverage the settee offered. “If we stay here they’ll come up and get us, yeah. We’re fucking sitting ducks. We need to blow the joint, OK?”

“Do you have a plan?” Jungkook asked him. Taehyung undone his suit jacket and reached inside to pull his Cz75 out his holster. He slid the safety off and so he copied him and got his Beretta free. The sight of the gun in his hand, full magazine and very much prepared to fire, was rather strange considering everything.

“I have parts of a plan.”

“Meaning?”

“Get down there,” he explained, “and get better cover. Down there are exits, we find the best one and we get outta here. Any motherfucker tries to shoot you and I’ll blow his fucking brains out.” Taehyung paused and then cocked his head. “That’s the plan.”

“It’s truly a great plan.”

Taehyung shifted to peer over the settee and he saw that the first-floor was empty save for a few people hunkered down clearly too scared to try and move lest they be riddled with bullets. He thought that meant that they could risk moving but most certainly not down the staircase a few feet away. From the ground-floor he could hear gunfire still occasionally tearing through the air. They would be too open on those stairs: exposed. They needed another way down.

“Jungkook, y’know another way to get to the ground-floor?” he asked as he slowly scanned the floor. The younger man told him that there were stairs that led onto the ground-floor through the bar to their left. Taehyung turned his head to see that there were indeed a set of stairs, a single flight split into two section with walls to offer shelter and hide behind. “OK, stay low and go over but don’t go down ‘em. Stay beside the door. I’ll cover you.”

Taehyung held his gun up and shifted to once again keep an eye on the floor. No movement was visible at all, signalling that the current floor was possibly safe. Jungkook quickly moved to the door and as soon as he was in place Taehyung crawled across the floor after him. He started down the stairs first, gun out in front of him and when he got to the end of the first half of the flight he stopped on the landing.

“…Who’s ours and who’s theirs?” he asked rather stupidly. “If I shoot someone I wanna make sure I shoot the right guys.”

“There are no Haedogje Pa men here except us and Seng’s last surviving man,” Jungkook explained. “All of the security have uniforms but so could whoever tried to kill us, I wouldn’t put it past whoever was hired to infiltrate the building.”

Taehyung thought this over and found that that wasn’t exactly an answer before twisting around the corner just in time to catch a man starting to run up the stairs. He wasn’t wearing a security uniform but rather just a suit and there was a gun in his hand. It took the man a second to react and before he could lift his arm and point his gun at him Taehyung pulled the trigger and shot him in the chest twice. The recoil was hard and he flinched, the sound of it firing amplified in the enclosed stairwell to that of a roar. The man stumbled backwards and fell down the few steps he had managed to run up and he started down the second half of the flight with Jungkook in tow.

“No uniforms.”

“Then shoot the fuckers.”

Taehyung reached the bottom and he threw his arm out to stop Jungkook from taking another step. Then he peered around the side of the stairwell to look at the main area of the casino. What he saw was absolute chaos, hundreds of bodies running around the joint trying to escape through the revolving front doors of the building. He could see a few security personnel with weapons drawn and he wondered if any of the men would shoot at him or Jungkook if they saw them with their guns drawn; possibly mistaking them as the aggressors. The obvious place for cover was a counter a dozen or so feet away. It was high enough to cover them both if they ducked down and it was made of thick wood rather than glass, certainly able to take bullets should it need to.

From somewhere across the building he heard another loud and rapid burst of gunfire and the closest security guard to their location was blown backwards, body jerking spasmodically as he was hit by several bullets. He almost seemed to dance and he saw how the bullets punched free with a mist of blood. Taehyung dived back behind the wall with a series of curses and he leaned against it to support himself.

“Sub or automatic?” Jungkook asked in a surprisingly calm tone. “They couldn’t have smuggled a submachine gun inside here, Taehyung, it would have to be an automatic gun.”

“Sub, it’s a sub, a fucking auh-auto can’t do that much damage,” Taehyung argued, “and they can get one inside here after someone already opens fire on the fucking joint and causes enough chaos, yeah?”

“OK. What’s the next part of the plan?”

“See the counter, the exchange one over there? We need to get to it first.” Jungkook quickly checked around the wall to look and then moved back behind it. “We’ve got cover from the ground-floor, nothing but a wall behind us, and it’s under the balcony. No one can hit us from above. It’s the best spot until we cut ‘em down or see a clear way out, yeah?”

“It’s quite a distance away,” Jungkook said as he wrapped both hands around the well of his pistol. “We’re in a good spot right now to take a few men out, right?”

“Seng’s man say how many there were?”

“No, which is great. Seng’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, took a bullet to the head.”

“Another fucking ruined deal,” Jungkook cursed and leaned back against the opposite wall, scanning the floor as he did. “I think Jinwoo is pissed off with me, what do you think, Taehyung?”

“I think I’m gonna shoot that cunt in the face should we ever be introduced,” Taehyung retorted and he heard the younger man laughing. “You think he organised this?” Jungkook made a noise in agreement. “What’re you-”

From the stairwell came the sudden pounding of footsteps and before Taehyung could turn Jungkook beat him to it. He saw him twisting around and then came the sound of his Beretta firing followed by a yelp of pain and a thump as whoever it was dropped to the ground out of sight. The younger man lowered the gun only slightly, eyes wide and head cocked as he tried to listen for anyone else on the stairwell. As he did Taehyung shifted to look around the wall again. There was still the faint bursting sound of gunfire from somewhere in the building but not close to them judging from the acoustics. He saw the crowd of people parting and still screaming as they milled in the direction of the front entrance and a few seconds later a man shoved his way through.

Ah yes, there was the submachine gun just like he had expected. The fucker had been hiding near the front, using the fleeing people as cover so he could take down the security. It wasn’t a big gun at all, rather a snub-nosed and compact black one. He could see the long magazine sticking out of the well by several inches and the muzzle was thin and pointed. Taehyung was pretty certain that it was an Uzi and he didn’t even want to know how many bullets were still left in the magazine. Far too many was the only real answer. There were no security personnel present now to distract the man; they were either all dead, somewhere else in the casino or they had fled too. That meant that he was either going to go for the stairs in the main area or head for the only other set to get onto the first floor.

The exact stairwell that they were hiding in.

Well…shit.

Taehyung knew that his Cz75 was a semi-automatic. A semi-automatic could take a man down with one shot should the aim be good enough. But if he missed? There was a second or so wait between each shot he could fire…but not for an Uzi. The man could pull the trigger and have shit aim and still plant three fucking bullets in him within a second.

Those were not great odds.

There was more movement on the stairwell above them and he left Jungkook to cover their asses so he could track the other man’s progress across the entrance area. He heard him firing once and then a second time before a body rolled down the stairs to land at their feet. One of the shots had been a headshot, deadshot in the centre.

“Jungkook, I need you to aim low and I’ll aim high. Don’t think just pull the trigger and cover yourself, alright?” Taehyung looked over at him and Jungkook gave him a single nod to let him know that he would. “Guy is exactly 2 O’clock, if we don’t get him we’re dead. Nice knowing you, yeah?”

“Nice fucking you,” Jungkook replied with a grin.

“We make it outta here alive, swear to god you can fuck me ‘til I pass out,” Taehyung declared without even a hint of embarrassment or reservation. “I’m so terrified but pumped right now. Seriously, just take me, Jungkook.”

“Almost dying can be a hell of an aphrodisiac.”

“On the count of three, yeah? One…two…three!”

Taehyung dived around the side of the wall just as Jungkook did, both of their guns held up. His aim was high, hoping for a chest shot, and Jungkook’s was low, around the thigh or knee to cripple him should his shot fail to hit. The man was way too close for his liking, just several feet away from the counter, so when they dived out he threw his own weapon up in anticipation. Taehyung pulled the trigger hard three times and saw his bullets hitting him on the left side and centre of his chest and Jungkook’s shot got him in the thigh. The man couldn’t get his gun up in their direction but his finger did depress the trigger in shock, causing the weapon to kick into action.

The countless thin bullets sprayed in an upward arc from the force of the recoil as the man fell back, shooting up the walls and to the very ceiling where they hit the massive chandelier. The bullets shattered most of it, causing it to come crashing down in a shower of glass onto the screaming crowd below. Taehyung didn’t even stop to think and instead grabbed Jungkook and shoved him out of the doorway whilst they had the advantage. He ducked low and raced over to the counter whilst he covered him. There was movement from by the entrance and he saw a man sweeping through the fleeing people, shoving them aside in the hopes of possibly catching them out. So Taehyung lifted his gun and fired once, clipping him on the upper arm. The man staggered backwards, creating a wide berth from the fleeing bystanders so that he could pull the trigger again and hit him. Once upon a time Hoseok had told him to try and avoid headshots, to try and aim for the larger target of the torso region instead but Taehyung took the risk. It was worth it because he saw the man flying to the side as the bullet hit him just below the jaw. As soon as he was behind the counter Jungkook got upright to cover him too. Taehyung didn’t like the idea of being out in the open at all but he had no choice. The counter was safe and the doorway was not so he just ducked low and ran towards it, hating the fact he had to lower his gun and leave himself open to do so.

He was halfway across the space when he heard someone yelling in Chinese, possibly Mandarin. A man opened fire around one of the balcony support pillars, hitting a fleeing woman in the neck with a bullet just to clear a path to get him. Taehyung saw her drop and he heard Jungkook cursing as he pulled the trigger. But he wasn’t as fast as the other man and he heard dual gunshots sounding out.

Taehyung didn’t actually feel any pain for a moment, rather just staggered from the force of the bullet punching into his shoulder. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he had just been shot but right now that didn’t seem important in the slightest. What was important was dropping to the floor to seek shelter behind the counter and so he dropped hard and felt his ass sliding along the floor as he ducked his head down low. The back of his head actually knocked into the side of Jungkook’s and he quickly shifted to right himself before he collapsed onto his lap.

“Is this, uh, is this the first time this have ever happened to you?” Taehyung asked as he pressed the magazine release and dropped it free to check his bullets. Four down, eight left inside. He awkwardly slammed it back home in the well and heard it clicking crisply, a flare of pain erupting in his shoulder at the movement.

“No this happens every time I come to Singapore,” Jungkook retorted sarcastically and Taehyung actually barked laughter. “Yes it’s the first fucking time this has happened, Taehyung.”

“Huh? Well, it’s real fucking lucky you ended up with me… You hit him?” Jungkook shook his head and Taehyung counted to ten mentally and then got back upright again. The man that had hit him had been on their left, hidden behind one of the first floor pillars. He had the gun pointed right in that direction and so when he saw the man shifting he pulled the trigger. The first bullet hit the very curve of the pillar and scared him out of his position. The man darted to try and dive behind another check-in counter and so Taehyung moved his arm and shot in anticipation of where he was running to rather than try and track him and hit him. The man practically ran into his bullet a second later and it hit him right in the hip. He shouted something in pain and landed to fall behind the safety of the counter.

A bullet zipped through the air and hit the very edge of the counter so Taehyung quickly threw his arm up and fired at the man up there twice. He knew that he missed and he couldn’t afford to do that but at least it scared him off.

“I’m down to four,” Taehyung muttered as he dropped down again. “What about you?” Jungkook released his magazine and eyed it before cursing under his breath.

“Three left,” Jungkook replied in an uncertain tone. There was another static burst of gunfire from across the casino so Taehyung twisted to jump back up again, scanning the open floor and firing at a man several feet away. He saw that his aim missed, the bullet punching into the wall instead and causing most of the glass to crack from the impact. He recovered quickly and managed to hit him just as the man aimed at him. The shot caused the man’s attempt to miss, bullet zipping past him by a considerable distance. He had to pull the trigger again to knock him down and he didn’t even know if he killed him or injured him. Just one bullet was left in the magazine, eleven cartridges already spent. From the floor above them he saw quick movement and so he twisted to lean over the counter, scanning above them with the gun held high. He wasted his last bullet rather foolishly and had to dive back behind the counter. Taehyung shoved his now empty gun back into his holster. He felt more pain in his shoulder as he did but he ignored it.

“All out.”

“There’s a gun over there on a dead man,” Jungkook explained. “You should grab it in case I run out.”

Taehyung leaned around the side of the counter and he sighted the dead man a few feet away, lying sprawled out on the floor. He was casino security judging from the jacket and had been killed by whoever the fuck had opened fire on them, and he did see a gun in his hand. Taehyung was pretty certain that it was a SIG Pro because he had practiced with one at the firing range a few times. It was good knowing the brand he supposed but kind of fucking pointless right now. What really mattered was knowing if there were any bullets in the magazine.

“Cover my ass, yeah? There’s a guy up there,” he ordered and Jungkook gave him a vigorous nod. He lifted his hand up quick, waving it over the counter to try and goad any men into firing in haste and wasting bullets but there wasn’t a single shot fired. Either they hadn’t fallen for his rouse or there were currently no men present. Taehyung doubted that that was the case but they were relatively safe in their current position. No one on the floor above could hit them because they were under the balcony and they were covered from the front of the casino by the counter.

Taehyung took a deep breath and then darted out from behind the counter. As he did so Jungkook jumped to his feet, body behind the counter and arms up to rest the gun on the top. He raced over to the fallen man and reached over to grab his gun and his fingers had just brushed against it when he heard a gunshot. He seized up instinctively at the sound, shoulder flaring with pain, but it had been Jungkook firing at someone up on the first floor. Taehyung heard a yelp of pain as he snatched the gun and ran back to dive behind the counter.

“You get him?”

“Injured maybe, didn’t kill him. Got any bullets?” Jungkook asked as he shifted to hunker down beside him again. Taehyung hit the release and the magazine popped free.

“Fucking bingo,” he muttered as he checked it. There were five more beautiful bullets left inside. Taehyung was certain that there were maybe only six or so men left. Good amount of bullets for good odds. A few more would have made it great odds but they were in a casino after all; he supposed they had to gamble. “Jungkook, call the driver I’ve got a plan, alright.”

Jungkook pulled his phone free and hastily typed on it and Taehyung could see his hand was shaking when he did. Strangely enough his hands weren’t shaking at all.

“Get the driver to go around back, into the fucking alley if we have to,” Taehyung instructed. “We have to go now, whilst there’s a break. We’ll have to risk the back the front’s too dangerous. If they’ve got men it’ll be at the front ‘cos that’s where they attacked from, yeah? They came at us like an arrow, not a pincer attack. If they had pincered us we’d be fucking dead by now so thank fuck for small favours. I think the alley’s our only option now.” On the phone Jungkook said something to the man, not speaking Korean. Taehyung wasn’t sure what it was but he guessed Malay. “Yeah?”

“Stay low, move fast, I’ll cover you,” Taehyung instructed before shifting to move away from the counter. Unlike Jungkook he got mostly upright, gun raised as he walked backwards and scanned the front of the casino. He could see chaos over that side, overturned and broken tables and furniture, plants overturned and most of the fountain sculpture had been destroyed by flying bullets. Mostly he saw people lying on the floor, injured or dead. He was only just aware of the fact that he could hear them crying or screaming in pain because he had been blocking it out.

Taehyung scanned the ground-floor quickly before lifting his eyes and his gun up to study the first-floor. He saw little movement but he knew there were men up there, men who had raced up the front staircase to try and find them. The counter and the overhead balcony area had hidden them away from sight for a few minutes but now they were moving across the grand open casino floor someone up there caught sight of them like he had expected. Taehyung heard a series of words being shouted and the second whoever it was moved to lean over the glass railing he pulled the trigger.

The man toppled over the side of the balcony and if his shot hadn’t injured him the stop down to the hard flooring mostly certainly did. Taehyung heard the wet thump of him hitting the ground and decided he wouldn’t chase after them. Whoever he had alerted would however so they had to move.

“Kitchen is clear,” Jungkook called from the doorway, propping the swing doors open with his body. Taehyung followed him through and saw that it was indeed clear so he half-dragged half-escorted the younger man around the countless counters in the direction of the fire escape doors. He shoved them open hard and held his arm up to stop him from racing out. Jungkook knocked against him and caused another jolt of pain to come from his shoulder.

“Hang on.”

Taehyung leaned around the doorway quick, trying to do so fast enough to avoid a bullet in the head. There was no attempted gunfire and so after a few seconds he slowly leaned around it again, arms up and gun cocked ready. A quick scan of the alleyway showed no men lying in wait and none of the tops of the opposite building. Clearly they had not anticipated this reaction. What he did see was the sight of Jungkook’s hired car parked just several feet away, the back door already open wide. The driver was staring out the window at them, clearly as shocked and scared as everyone else in the area was.

“Coast’s clear, Jungkook, you-”

From the front of the building came the sudden burst of more gunfire and yelling and he knew what that meant. It meant that the hired hitmen had either came out of hiding again or reinforcements had arrived. They needed to get out of here and fast, before any of them thought of the possibilities of them being alive and trying to escape.

“Get in the car now,” Taehyung ordered as he stopped in the doorway that led out into the alley. He had to shove Jungkook out because he wasn’t budging. “I’ve gotta cover our asses.”

“Get yourself killed and I can’t fuck you unconscious,” Jungkook intoned and despite everything Taehyung didn’t find the threat funny. He was much too pumped with fear and adrenaline to laugh right now but if they got out of this alive he might just find it hilarious.

“Go,” he repeated and then he twisted back around to face the kitchen entrance. He stood mostly in the alleyway, using the wall as a shield and leaning around it so that he had a clear shot at the door. He had four bullets left in the SIG and then he was done. He might as well make the four shots worth it. From behind him he heard Jungkook getting into the back of the car and barely a second later the kitchen doors swung inward.

The first man to run through the doors clearly didn’t anticipate that he would be lying in wait for when he dived into the kitchen he had his gun lowered. Taehyung didn’t even shoot to injure him at this point, he shot to kill. Before the goon could take more than two steps into the kitchen he pulled the trigger and the bullet kicked out the chamber to hit the man right in the throat. He stumbled backwards with a series of disgusting noises, blood misting into the air. He had no sooner dropped when another goon raced into the kitchen after him. Taehyung saw a rifle in his hand and he took a risk at a headshot with him. He saw the bullet clip the side of his head, right around his cheek, and then the man fell backwards through the batwing doors with a series of loud howls. Maybe not a killing blow but he was certain that he had put him out of action for a few minutes.

“Taehyung, come on!” Jungkook shouted from the alley.

“Two bullets!” he called back. “Two bullets means two less men and-” the doors swung inward again and he aimed lower and managed to hit another man in the upper arm, “two less men means two less chances of dying! Make that one now!” Whoever he hit dropped to the floor and he considered sparing his life. From the alley Jungkook was still yelling at him to get his ass in the car. “Who do you work for, huh?!”

The man spoke to him in Chinese rather than Korean. Fucking hell, could this day get any worst?

“English?! You know English ?!” Taehyung shouted at him, voice cracking as he did. “ Who you working for?! ”

“ Kim !” the man shouted back at him, hand holding onto his injured arm. “ We work for Kim !” He didn’t even try and reach for his gun because he was too busy nursing his injury. Taehyung had considered sparing him but the knowledge that the man would have planted a bullet in his head had he been given the chance was very compelling. So he used his last bullet instead and shot him dead centre in the chest.

Kim Jinwoo would have had the man killed for talking anyway so what was the point in sparing him?

If anyone else had decided to follow them then he guessed that he would have to risk a bullet between the shoulder blades but he couldn’t wait any longer and he was fresh out of bullets. Taehyung dropped the gun and dived through the doorway as fast as he could. Jungkook was almost frantically gesturing at him now, waving his arms to tell him to get in and so he jumped into the back. He barely even had enough time to slam the door shut when the wheels screeched and the car shot down the alleyway and back onto the main road.

“Stay low,” he ordered as he dragged Jungkook down in the seat, making sure neither of their heads were possible targets. The driver copied them, a smart move on his half. Just as he twisted the wheel to turn the corner there came a loud ripping sound and then that of shattering glass as a series of bullets flew through the back window. A shower of glass poured down on their heads and Taehyung saw a bullet lodge itself in the headrest of the passenger-seat. Clearly the men had been smart enough to send whoever was left of them out to watch the street just in case they escaped.

The driver managed to maneuver the car even in his awkward position and they were flying around the corner onto a new street packed full of traffic. Any hopes of following them would quickly be lost for the car zoomed right into the middle of a busy intersection. The man shifted to sit more upright and get a clear view of the road, no longer risking death doing so. They had gotten away from their attackers and Taehyung very much doubted that they would be able to pursue them now. There must have been a dozen men in the casino and he knew for a fact that he had killed or injured seven of them alone. Whoever was left was mostly certainly not able to give a decent chase now. Taehyung sank back in the seat and it was only then that he started to feel himself coming down from it all. Whatever surge of adrenaline he had been running on was now quickly fading and he felt his limbs getting heavy, much too heavy.

“Fuck.”

He heard Jungkook’s voice but it was strangely distant, muffled almost as if his head was packed with cotton wool. It was a result of the gunfire of course, the deafening bursts of sound that had made his eardrums almost burst from the pressure of it all. He had never felt this at the firing ranges because he had had the protective gear on to keep his eyes and ears safe. Right now he could very much believe that he could turn deaf and when he blinked he saw flashes of white on his eyelids from the muzzles of the guns.

“Fuck, Taehyung!” Taehyung turned his head to look at him, mouth hanging open rather stupidly. “You’ve been shot!”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been fucking shot!” Jungkook shouted at him again, as if he wasn’t aware of the fact that he had. His shoulder felt like it had possibly been blown off and he really wouldn’t be too shocked if he found that his left arm was missing. Yet when he looked down he saw that it was still there. It was from earlier of course, back before they had even raced through the kitchen and only now had he remembered it. “Hang on!” The younger man grabbed hold of him and forced him forward in the seat and then he was pulling at his suit jacket hard.

“Jesus-fucking-Christ!” Taehyung almost screamed, the pain so intense that he couldn’t control himself. It felt like his entire left arm was on fire, like someone had doused it with gasoline and then hit him with a blowtorch. He had never felt a burning this strong before and he had burnt himself often in the past: fingertips on pan handles, messing around with his grandmother’s old coal fireplace as a child. This was a pain that could only be described as a searing and as Jungkook wrenched the suit jacket off him he couldn’t help a sob from escaping even when he didn’t want it to.

His shirt and suit jacket had been torn open from the bullet, the fabric ripped to show a sizable trench in his skin. Looking at it Taehyung saw a deep crater in his shoulder, the edges raw and the centre a red mess of skin and muscle. It looked deep, deep enough for him to stick his finger right into the hole. More than one actually. It was so much more worse than Ahn’s bullet wound and looking at it made Taehyung feel strangely detached. He wasn’t looking at his shoulder right now, but rather someone else’s. That gaping hole wasn’t in his flesh, that was just plain crazy. But the longer he stared at it the more it sank in that it was actually his shoulder right now. He had been shot and there was blood steadily pumping out of the injury to soak into his already wet shirt. Taehyung stared at his shoulder in cold horror. Most of the left side of his shirt was slick and soaked with blood and he could smell it: a coppery scent that was overpowering and nauseating.

“Did it go through?!” he asked, voice rather shrill with a mixture of fear and breathlessness.

“No, no it’s still lodged in your shoulder,” Jungkook explained as he stuck his fingers through the tear in his shirt and wrenched hard. The already ruined material tore very easily and the blood squelched in his grip. Within seconds Jungkook’s fingers and palms were covered in his blood, skin stained crimson. The younger man tore the shirt open to fully reveal the wound and also rip scraps free. He bundled them together and then pressed them down on the wound.

“Fuck, oh fuck!” Taehyung cursed breathlessly but Jungkook just pressed down harder rather than stop. He even reached over with his other hand to hold him firmly in place so he could clamp his hand down and staunch the flow of blood. Taehyung knew that he was doing it to help but it hurt so badly that he could only wriggle on the backseat and want him to stop. “That hurts, Jungkook, it fucking hurts !”

“Not the hotel,” Jungkook instructed to the driver, talking over him as if he hadn’t whined at him. “Don’t go to the hotel, I know somewhere else.” And then in rather a fast and guttural tongue that Taehyung couldn’t possibly understand he said something to the driver. The man clearly understood him for he twisted the wheel to do a sharp U-turn, causing several cars to honk their horns at them. Then Jungkook turned back to him. “You took a fucking bullet for me.”

“You took a fucking bullet…” Jungkook repeated, hand still clamped down on his shoulder tightly. “No one’s taken a fucking bullet for me, Taehyung. No man has ever bled for me unless I cut him first.”

“Uh-there’s a lot of blood,” he pointed out before laughing at his own remark. Shit, the pain was so bad now he was starting to feel his consciousness slipping and he wouldn’t at all be surprised if he passed out. “Shit, a luh-lot of blood.”

“This is nothing,” Jungkook disagreed with a head shake. “This is nothing, just a little bit of blood.”

“I’m guh-gonna bleed out like a fuh-fucking pig,” Taehyung groaned as he threw his head back against the backseat headrest. His eyes rolled up with the movement and he didn’t even try to roll them back down again because that seemed to take too much effort right now.

“You’re not, trust me you’re not. This isn’t going to kill you.”

“Shit…”

“You bled me for me, Taehyung,” Jungkook repeated in a low voice. “Whoever did this, I’ll make sure that they choke on their own fucking blood.”

“Kuh-Kim Jinwoo, you said he did it.”

“So Kim Jinwoo is a dead man walking, he just doesn’t know it yet.”

The car didn’t pull up outside the hotel or even a hospital like he had been hoping, but rather a rather dingy-looking brick building in the middle of a rather desolate neighbourhood. Taehyung wasn’t entirely certain what he had been expecting but he knew that it wasn’t this. In the darkness of the night he could barely make the building out for there looked to be shutters in place over the windows and front door. If it hadn’t been for a towering streetlight just in front of the car he likely wouldn’t have even noticed it. Staring out the backseat window, Taehyung found that he didn’t know what could possibly be inside. It could be a drugs den, casino, brothel, club, even a fucking hospital for all he knew because he had learnt that Haedogje Pa could hide absolutely anything anywhere.

When the engine stopped and plunged the car into silence Jungkook finally stopped pressing down on his wounded shoulder. He pulled the wad of material away and Taehyung could see that it had at least stopped bleeding. The gunshot wound was still a hideous trench in his flesh, the surrounding area pink and starting to look inflamed to his eyes. But it wasn’t bleeding and he guessed that that was a good sign. Less blood to lose seen as he had already lost quite the amount. How much could he lose before it was dangerous he didn’t really know but he didn’t think he had lost that much just yet. Or at least he was hoping that that was the case.

“Juh-Jungkook, where are we?” Taehyung asked, hearing his voice jittering as he did, likely the result of shock. If only the shock would stop the hideous throbbing pain in his shoulder that made his body ache. Maybe it was because he also felt cold with the exception of his burning shoulder.

“Trust me,” Jungkook intoned as he shoved the door open. “You will get treatment here, I have a man here that can fix you up.”

“Uh-OK,” Taehyung nodded at him, feeling his hair falling over his eyes as he did. He didn’t have the strength to try and push it back in place and rather just left the clump of sweat-soaked hair hanging in front of his eyes. “I trust yuh-you.”

It took both Jungkook and the driver’s efforts combined to get him out of the car. The task wasn’t particularly hard for neither of them seemed to give a shit if they jostled his shoulder and he cried out in pain. There were no gentle touches and words of encouragement. No, Taehyung was roughly pulled out of the backseat and along the sidewalk and no amount of cursing made them stop. He ended up with his injured arm tossed over the driver’s shoulders so that he could be carried more easily. He was taken around the front of the building and down into a thin alley to get to the back. There was a single door there, wooden and rather worn from the years. The paint had cracked and peeled in parts to create a spiderweb-like ripple across the dark brown wood.

Jungkook didn’t bother politely knocking but rather lifted one leg high, knee cocked, and kicked it hard. His foot connected with a hard thumping sound and the door actually rattled in the frame from the force of his kick. Taehyung felt his own head lolling to land against his neck and yet the younger man didn’t shrug it off. Rather he let him rest his head against him even when the angle made his shoulder ache. All angles seemed to make it hurt and holding his head up properly seemed to be the worst position of all. Jungkook had just lifted his leg again in preparation for another kick, clearly unsatisfied about the fact he had to wait, when the door swung inwards.

The man on the other side looked to be incredibly old, possibly old enough to be his grandfather, but despite this fact he looked to be alert. His eyes were sharp and not cloudy with age and when he lifted his hand and gestured at them his fingers didn’t shake in the slightest.

“…Get him in the back room,” he ordered in a rather croaky voice. He stepped back and pulled the door open for them to enter. Taehyung was forcibly escorted inside by the two men, into the rather dimly lit and strange smelling interior.

The building was clearly not a clinic nor a hospital of any kind. It looked to be a drug den from what he could see through the dim and smoky haze. Taehyung saw men and women lying around on beds, long and rather curved thin pipes in hand and clouds of rather pungent smoke hanging in the air around their heads. There were people moving around the room that were clearly assistants judging from their breathing masks and clean white clothing; lighting pipes and tampering with them for the customers who were clearly unable to do so. They were lying on their sides mostly, dreamy expressions on their faces and propped up on pillows. It was an opium den, that much was clear to him. Taehyung was half-walked, half-dragged across the den in the direction of another room.

In the new room he saw various pieces of furniture. There was a wooden desk and a leather chair behind it, along with a hammock bed, and in the corner of the room there was a massive sink and countless bottles of what looked like bleach and antiseptic. In one of the other corners there was a small refrigerator, a tall cupboard with slide-glass doors and a metal table with wheels was a few feet away from the desk. He was taken over to the chair and lowered down to